McCormick’s is a manufacturer that provides sauces and spices for Australia’s major fast-food providers – like KFC, McDonald’s, Oporto, Hungry Jacks, and Nando’s.

Millions of Australians consume their products every day. The company is very profitable.

Despite this, workers at McCormick’s had gone 5 years without a wage increase. In recent negotiations, McCormick’s offered workers another 0% increase, alongside threats to their working conditions. With inflation rising, this meant the workers were effectively being asked to take a pay cut.

From the start, workers knew this was bigger than just one site. This has been a fight for respect for all essential workers who toiled through the pandemic, while their companies made massive profits, only to be told that there was no money for a pay rise and that workers had to accept what they were given.

So, they worked together, with their union representatives, to devise a plan of action to improve their offer.

They went on strike.

And they won – securing a 3% pay rise per year, no cuts to conditions, and a $5,000 sign-on bonus.

This is the power of workers coming together.

The power of collective action.