About GWUThe EA was not gifted.Workers forced it.
The 2024–2025 Enterprise Agreement campaign was driven by Grill’d workers and backed primarily by the United Workers Union: on the shop floor, in strike action, and in the Fair Work Commission.
What happened
A campaign built by workers, carried by UWU pressure.
Grill’d workers pushed for a better deal through conversations, store organising, public pressure, and strike action. The formal industrial and legal fight was led primarily by the United Workers Union, including the Fair Work Commission challenge that forced Grill’d to address serious problems with the proposed Agreement.
GWU’s role was to help explain the campaign, support workers, amplify the fight, and turn complicated EA issues into plain language. But the formal bargaining, strike leadership, and Commission work sat overwhelmingly with UWU and UWU members.
What changed
The final EA had safeguards the first deal lacked.
Reconciliation clause
Grill’d must regularly check workers against the Award and pay shortfalls if the EA leaves them worse off.
Split shifts banned
A harmful rostering practice was blocked through undertakings secured during the approval process.
Delegate rights protected
The Commission corrected wording so delegates can communicate with eligible workers during working hours, breaks, before work, or after work.
October 2024
The first fast-food strike in Australian history.
During the voting period, Flinders Lane workers led historic strike action. It sent a clear message: workers were not going to be treated as a rubber stamp for a deal they had not genuinely shaped.
That action mattered because it shifted the campaign from quiet frustration to visible worker power.
January–May 2025
UWU challenged the first deal at the Fair Work Commission.
The first 2024 proposal did not survive the Commission process. UWU’s challenge exposed serious problems with how the deal had been explained and whether the legal approval requirements had been met.
June–July 2025
The campaign spread across states.
When Grill’d brought forward a second proposal, workers again took action. This time, the campaign expanded across Victoria, South Australia, and New South Wales.
The message was simple: a new EA needed real protections, not recycled language and pressure to accept whatever the company put forward.
The campaign behind the result
Real wins come from sustained pressure.
The final EA was shaped by months of worker conversations, strike action, public pressure, bargaining work, and Fair Work Commission advocacy. It was not the result of one meeting or one announcement. It came from workers staying organised and UWU continuing to press the issues through the formal process.
Workers organised
Grill’d workers spoke up, shared concerns, joined actions, and kept pressure on the company.
UWU carried the formal fight
UWU supported members through bargaining, industrial action, and the Fair Work Commission process.
The result improved
The final undertakings added enforceable safeguards that workers can now rely on.
Timeline
How the campaign unfolded.
Grill’d starts briefing workers
Workers begin seeing the same old problem: big claims about being above Award, but serious gaps around penalties, rostering, unpaid time, and enforceability.
Workers draw a line
Flinders Lane workers lead historic fast-food strike action during the voting period, making it clear workers would not be ignored.
UWU challenges the first deal
UWU takes the 2024 proposal through the Fair Work Commission process. The agreement is not approved.
More stores take action
Strike action expands across Victoria, South Australia, and New South Wales as workers push for a better second proposal.
UWU keeps pressure on at the FWC
UWU continues the legal and industrial challenge, leading to undertakings that lock in key protections.
The 2025 EA begins
The new Agreement commences with undertakings attached as enforceable terms.
The EA only matters if workers know how to use it.
The campaign won important safeguards. The next job is enforcing them in every store.