Bargaining for better pay & conditions at Macca's
UPDATE APRIL 2026 | Massive Win For Macca’s Workers – Bargaining is back!
The SDA is about to start negotiating for improved pay and conditions at Macca’s.
The Fair Work Commission has approved the SDA’s application to negotiate a new Enterprise Agreement for McDonald’s workers. This is a massive win for Macca’s workers and an important step towards negotiating a new McDonald’s Agreement that will cover both corporate and franchisee stores.
This decision gives Macca’s workers a real say when it comes to your workplace conditions and your pay.
What does this mean?
For more than five years, McDonald’s has refused to negotiate with workers or the union about pay and conditions.
Most McDonald’s workers are paid under the Fast Food Award – the legal minimum. But McDonald’s is the largest and most profitable fast food company in the world, and we believe workers deserve better than the bare minimum.
By winning this case, the Fair Work Commission has agreed that McDonald’s franchisees and corporate stores can be required to bargain with workers and the SDA for a new McDonald’s Agreement.
A national McDonald’s Agreement will set out the pay, conditions and entitlements of McDonald’s.
What happens next?
This decision clears the way for negotiations towards a National Enterprise Agreement. We want to negotiate:
- Better pay
- Fairer rosters
- More say over your working conditions
The first step before we secure any new Agreement will be getting your feedback about pay and conditions from SDA members.
We’ll be surveying SDA members at McDonald’s so you can have your say.
The SDA keeps all SDA union members up to date with their pay, conditions and workplace rights.
The SDA has lodged applications at the Fair Work Commission to require McDonald’s Franchises to negotiate a new Agreement.
What does this mean?
For over five years, McDonald’s has not been negotiating with workers or the union about pay and conditions.
All workers at McDonald’s are paid under the Fast Food Award, which is the minimum standard that McDonald’s must pay.
But McDonald’s is the largest and most profitable fast food chain in the world and we think it can do better than just the lawful minimum.
We want McDonald’s to negotiate with workers and the union for better pay and conditions.
So, we’ve made Supported Bargaining Applications at the Fair Work Commission to require them to do just that.
These applications are the first step towards securing a supported bargaining Enterprise Agreement.
What is a Supported Bargaining Agreement?
A Supported Bargaining Agreement is a special type of Enterprise Agreement that can cover workers across the same sector, who work at different employers who receive low pay and conditions.
In order to commence bargaining, unions must make an application to the Fair Work Commission who will then decide on this.
The Commission makes its decision based on: the pay and conditions of the work force, common interests (e.g. geographical location, nature of the enterprises) and other matters.
The SDA recently won our case for a Supported Bargaining Agreement in South Australia and now we’re lodging applications around Australia.
We will keep all SDA members updated on the progress of our applications in the Fair Work Commission.
Why has the SDA lodged applications to bargain?
Thousands of other fast food workers in Australia get a say on their pay and conditions but McDonald’s workers don’t.
An Enterprise Agreement must provide workers with better pay and conditions than under the Fast Food Award. By negotiating Enterprise Agreements, the SDA has negotiated above-Award pay and conditions at other fast food chains across the country.
Negotiating an Agreement would give you a real say on your pay and conditions including your rate of pay, rostering conditions and more.
