Unite Union national secretary Gerard Hehir said when contacted he was ''very happy'' with how the strike went, saying there had been ''a severe impact'' at many outlets, meaning they either closed, were kept open by managers under ''reduced operations'' or the public simply stayed away.
The strike is essentially to get Restaurant Brands back to the bargaining table after negotiations recently broke down over several issues.
Mr Hehir said they included issues over taking breaks, redundancies, staff getting wage rises so they were making more than the minimum wage over a three-year period, and gaining rises for supervisors to move their wages towards the living wage.
About half of Restaurant Brands' 4000 New Zealand staff are Unite members.
''Nationally, there were hundreds who turned out ... it was the first strike in 11 years and for some union members it would have been their first time picketing,'' he said.
Unlike essential services, employees at fast food outlets do not have to give a fortnight's notice of intention to strike.
Asked if more strikes were being considered, Mr Hehir said: ''Yes, we're looking at [striking on] Anzac Day and other different days.''
Listed Restaurant Brands operates a total of 170 outlets for KFC, Carl's Jr, Starbucks, Starbucks and Pizza Hut around New Zealand, plus 42 KFCs in New South Wales and a recent $94 million acquisition of 82 fast food outlets in Hawaii and Guam.
On the eve of the strike, Restaurants Brands countered that it led the sector for both fixed hours of work and security of pay and was the first to scrap zero-hour contracts, to guarantee staff minimum hours, and offered pathways for staff to increase their pay rates.
In other cities, staff from Pizza Hut, Carl's Jr and Starbucks also walked off the job on Saturday.
