Why are 2800 Kiwis on Strike — the unions’ case
We welcome a new columnist today who will give you a fairer picture of what’s affecting working people in New Zealand. – Helen Kelly, president of the Council of Trade Unions (CTU).
Ms Kelly has been President of the CTU since 2007. Among other tasks, she campaigns for equity in women’s pay and employment, and co-chairs the Workplace Health and Safety Council.
Helen holds an LLB from Victoria University and is also a qualified teacher.
Her first column explains why 2800 Kiwis are now on strike.
‘Two very different stories behind the disputes’
By Helen Kelly, President of the NZCTUThere are currently over 2800 workers in New Zealand involved in some form of industrial action, and depending on who you listen to, there are two very different stories behind the disputes.
One story is that of business striving to be more productive, more flexible and modern. The narrative that the only way through tough economic times is to cut back, scale down and economise. We hear about greedy workers who are biting the hand that feeds them.
Standing up for fair conditions and pay
The other is of workers standing up for decent jobs, for fair pay and good conditions. Workers who want to be able to have a family life outside of work rather than having to sit by the phone to hear when they are next working. Workers who were not responsible for the Global Financial Crisis (GFC), but who are bearing the brunt of it.
The Talley’s AFFCO dispute and Ports of Auckland dispute are predominately about workers wanting job security, and their employer wanting ever increasing flexibility.
For the port workers, accepting Port demands would mean not knowing when their shifts are, not knowing what hours they will be working week to week, and being employed by a third-party contractor. For the meat workers, the dispute is about rosters, but also about other important issues like chain speed, and health and safety.
The Ports of Auckland dispute is becoming increasingly entrenched and being played out in the courts. The 300 workers are currently being stopped from returning to work by the ports. 1000 meat workers have been locked out by AFFCO after just 10 hours of negotiations. These are bully tactics, attempting to starve workers into submission.
Oceania’s ’11 cents above minimum’
The Oceania dispute is about decent and fair wages. the (mostly women) workforce at Oceania are paid 11 cents above the minimum wage. They are seeking a 3.5% increase, Oceania is offering 1.1%. These workers do one of our most important jobs – they care for our elderly. They often go above and beyond the call of duty and take on added responsibilities. These workers deserve decent pay.
There is little doubt the current industrial climate is worsening, and there are several high level disputes.
But that’s not the norm – there are 390,000 people in unions and 2,500 negotiated collective agreements and only some of these negotiations are likely to end up in a major argument.
We can’t lose sight of that fact that decent jobs are worth the fight. We are wholeheartedly supporting these workers.
Kapiti folk wanting to support low-paid Oceania staff, can come to a picket at Kapiti lights intersection tomorrow, Thursday 5 April 8.30am – 10.30am.
Staff at Eldon Lodge are taking strike action, along with 29 other Oceania facilities around the country.
Oceania is an Aussie-owned corporate, taking tax-payer money and pocketing it instead of passing it on to their workers who are amongst the lowest paid in NZ, with 600 Oceania staff on $13.61. (The minimum wage is $13.50).
For more informatiuon call 027 204 6329.
Unfortunately Helen what we have lived through these past 100 years or so was the best of times, as regards civil liberties and improvements in employment. We face a scaling back of all that we think is normal from 2006 onwards (as we are all seeing), peak oil has started to reduce our ability to support this system, things are going to go backwards, with slavery, cannibalism, and eventually extinction to look forward to.
As reported on National Radio this morning at best we face a 6* degree warmer environment by 2100, 2 – 3 degrees = bye bye humans, and we are at +1 now.
As the parliamentary report from October 2010 says, this year New Zealand is going to start seeing restrictions in our oil imports, this is going to flow onto employment, as the price of everything is going to go up (faster than it does now), a rescission or a continuation of the downward plunge we are currently in is guaranteed, this will mean less jobs etc, when we are at 50% unemployment we will be happy working for carrots
Sorry but your days as a member of the Council of Trade Unions are numbered.
Parliamentary report http://oilcrash.com/articles/wake_up2.htm
* There are some studies that say +16 by 2050, and an organisation the government have quoted several times to me and on TV (the International Energy Agency) are predicting +3 by 2035, if we maintain ‘business as usual’ (BAU) which is improved working conditions and a payout of your Kiwi Saver investments, They also say to maintain BAU ‘we’ will need to find 3-5 Saudi Arabia’s worth of oil.
If you are remotely interested this talk is one of the latest and the most up to date, with all the facts, and predictions http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOq2A_SGTYA&context=C448be75ADvjVQa1PpcFN1GP8HGMERODAzVprJYWCu9vsBSNXBl3g=
We are also way past peak honesty, as we can see by the trash we call our ‘leaders’