Abuse hurled at staff in an Auckland Subway outlet has been deemed “unacceptable” by a First Union rep, who says it's not right to air frustrations over government or company policy to service staff.
A video filmed inside the Subway Waiuku branch, was re-posted to Twitter on Tuesday by Byron C Clark, which showed a man claiming that Subway was "fascist" for enforcing the vaccine pass requirement.
“I don’t believe in a Nazi fascist state, do you guys want that for New Zealand, are you okay with everyone having a vaccine pass?," the man said.
Staff members remained calm, asking him to show a vaccine pass or “please leave the store”.
He agreed to leave, before yelling out to them from the store's entrance, calling them a “pack of Nazis”.
Ben Peterson, First Union national organiser for retail, told Breakfast the man's actions were “unacceptable”.
Ben Peterson of First Union says it’s not to right to air frustrations over government or company policy at frontline staff.
“We can't accept that this is the society we want to live in, that retail workers and service workers in general are a reasonable place to put your frustration or concerns about big picture stuff.
“The retail worker in the dairy at the end of the road or the small town Subway sandwich worker is the person who has the least impact on public policy or company policy so for these people to feel that the person to inject their vile onto are the people who are least able to exercise any control over that, it’s just unacceptable.”
On Monday, RNZ reported a Dunedin man had been arrested after allegedly threatening bar staff with a knife as he was asked to show his vaccine pass, which he didn't have.
A vaccine pass is a legal requirement to enter places such as hospitality venues, some events, gatherings and gyms.
They came into effect on Friday December 3, along with the traffic light system. They aren’t required to be shown at essential services such as supermarkets, pharmacies, GPs and hospitals.
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