MELBOURNE — Forty people gathered on September 5 outside a Melbourne 7-Eleven to speak out against the convenience store operators' exploitation of young — particularly international student — workers.
The action, organised by fast food and retail workers union UNITE, drew attention to fact that 7-Eleven workers get paid as little as $9 an hour, while the store has some of the highest prices of any convenience store. The corporation turned over more than $1.1 billion last year.
The action was attended by members of various unions as well as university students. Liz Thompson from the Fair Wear campaign, pointed out that not all international students were "cashed-up" and most had to work to survive.
An international student, Ganesh from the RMIT Student Union, called on 7-Eleven to stop exploiting international students. Anthony Main from UNITE, Dave Kerin from Union Solidarity and a Student Housing Action Collective activist also spoke.