Month: October 2019

E tū: changing times as Air NZ cuts London services

E tū says it’s not surprised by Air New Zealand’s decision to pull out of its London base and cease flights between Los Angeles and London.

E tū Head of Aviation, Savage says for many years, Kiwi travellers have looked to fly to Europe via LA and London, and the soon-to-be-defunct Air NZ route was popular in the past.

But he says, that’s changed as more players have crowded the trans-Atlantic market and flights via the Middle East and Asia have become more desirable.

“After 36 years, it’s definitely the end of an era, and our thoughts are with the cabin crew and other UK based staff who will lose their jobs,” says Savage.

“The 130 London-based crew are members of Unite union in the UK. They are a mix of nationalities with about 30 New Zealanders. As we understand it, some of the London crew will have found out today while half-way to LA that the base was closing.

“Only cabin crew know what it is like to be cabin crew so, regardless of which union they belong to or where they live, our members have strong solidarity with fellow Air NZ crew who are now facing redundancy.

“We have contacted the union officials in London and will be offering whatever assistance we can.”

Savage says this morning’s other announcement of direct flights to New York was also not unexpected.  

“The focus is now on Pacific-rim countries as Air NZ re-positions itself in the market. Our members on the 787s are in contract negotiations with the company at present and that includes agreements on Ultra Long Range flying where duty times for crew will be around 19 hours,” he says.

Savage says both moves reflect a strong focus within Air New Zealand on profits.

“It is clear the airline is focused on maximising profits on every route they fly. For E tū members, it is important the drive to increase company profits does not undermine the company’s social commitments to its own employees.

“Profit at the expense of decent well-paid aviation jobs here in New Zealand will not help the New Zealand economy thrive,” says Savage.

ENDS

For more information, contact:

Savage Head of Aviation E tū ph. 027 590 0074

DHB members – you could be owed holiday pay!

Thanks to your union, a process is underway to make sure you get what you are owed.

Since 2016, health unions have been working with the Ministry of Health to agree on a process to check your holiday pay has been paid properly and to pay back anything you are owed. This will put right a decade of underpayments to health workers as a result of mistakes due to non-compliance with the Holidays Act.

This affects around 100,000 health workers, including our directly employed DHB maintenance, cleaning, catering, orderly’s, laundry, stores, driving, and security staff.

Initial sampling by DHBs indicates that between $550- $650 million is owed to both former and current health workers. E tū has been part of negotiating a signed agreement with DHBs, the Ministry of Health, MBIE, and other health unions, which outlines a process to ensure you get the pay you are owed.


This agreement includes:

  • agreement on the interpretations of the Holidays Act and calculations
  • back pay to 2010 of any money owed
  • inclusion of all types of payments such as allowances, relevant daily pay, and average daily pay across various leave entitlements
  • a transparent process done by auditors with union representatives and delegates involved
  • a requirement that every DHB must have started this review by April 2020.

It will take time to clarify who’s owed what and to timetable repayments. It’s a complex job involving more than 100 different collective agreements and a range of rostering, allowances and overtime provisions which have changed over time.

The work is expected to take 12 to 24 months to put right, but you will be paid what you are owed!

What about DHB contractors?

In 2016, we raised the issue of Holidays Act compliance with the DHB contractors who employ E tū members. Now that there is an agreed process with the DHBs, we have asked the contractors to undertake a similar process if they have not already done so. We will update you as we learn more.

Please note: if you were directly employed by a DHB at some stage since 2010 then you will be part of the DHB review as well.

Click here to read the Government’s media release.

Click here to read a useful article about Holidays Act non-compliance.

Not in the union yet? Click here to join today.

IDEA ratification meetings

Proposed Settlement at IDEA after 11 months of Bargaining!

After 11 months of bargaining to renew the IDEA Services Support Worker and Admin Collective Agreement, we finally have a proposed settlement for members to vote on.

Its been a tough process involving multiple days of bargaining, eight mediation sessions, Facilitation with the employment authority, and a series of strikes and collective actions by union members to get to this point.

Click here to read more info and to view the meeting schedule.

E tū members welcome FPA progress

E tū members in cleaning and security are welcoming the Government’s call for consultation on the development of Fair Pay Agreements.

The ‘Designing a Fair Pay Agreements System’ discussion paper, released today, proposes many solutions to exploitation of whole sectors of low paid workers.

E tū cleaner Mele Peaua says that a Fair Pay Agreement could be an answer to low pay and conditions in the cleaning industry.

“I think we need a Fair Pay Agreement for cleaners to fix the problems of low pay and not enough hours of work,” Mele says.

“Cleaning companies undercut each other because they compete for contracts on the lowest cost.  That means we suffer.

“When cleaning contracts change, we have to start all over again. We lose our hours of work. It happens all the time. With Fair Pay Agreements, we would be protected from these constant changes.

“We have to draw a line, so that we can have fair standards for everyone.

“It’s not just about the pay. We also have a race to the bottom on conditions. If I have to spend all my minimum sick leave on looking after my sick kids, then when I get sick, I have no choice but to take unpaid leave. So, it’s about pay, it’s about leave, it’s about job security, and it’s about our lives as working people.”

Mele says that all Kiwis will benefit from addressing poor pay and conditions for the most vulnerable.

“If we have a happy family, we’ll have a happy community. If we have a happy community, we’ll have a better country. It’s about making life better for all New Zealanders. So, we need our Government to take the lead for all of our people.”

E tū security guard Rosey Ngakopu is looking forward to a Fair Pay Agreement to give her more money in her pocket, allowing her to spend more time with her son.

“I want to be more present in my son’s life. Our children are our future,” Rosey says.

“I don’t get enough time to help my son with his studies or make sure he’s doing ok because of the hours and days I have to work just to keep our heads above water.

“Even the time I do spend with him, sometimes I’m not really present with him, because I’m so tired from being on my feet for a 12-hour shifts. And he notices that. It sucks, to tell you the truth.

“Security guards feel undervalued because the mahi we do is not reflected in our pay, due to the undercutting in the competitive market in the security industry.”

“A Fair Pay Agreement will be a game-changer. And not just for me, or my colleagues, but for all security guards in the industry.”

E tū Assistant National Secretary Annie Newman says that E tū is looking forward to the consultation process.

“E tū is taking the time to carefully consider the questions and we will be putting together a comprehensive response on behalf of our members,” Annie says.

“However, there are some questions where the right answers for workers are very clear.

“E tū does not support proposed regional variations in pay rates. The Living Wage experience shows that decent wages are viable wherever you are and no matter what the size of the business. 

“We think that 10% of the workforce or 1,000 workers should be able to trigger bargaining for a Fair Pay Agreement, whichever is fewer, because that represents a significant portion of a workforce and anything higher would be an unnecessary barrier. This was the Working Group’s recommendation and one we support.”

ENDS

For more information and comment:

Annie Newman, 027 204 6340

Workers may be available for some media interviews this afternoon.
Please contact Sam Gribben on 027 204 6329 to arrange.

E tū statement on new Air NZ CEO

11 October 2019

MEDIA STATEMENT

E tū statement on the appointment of Greg Foran as Air New Zealand CEO: this should be credited to Savage, Head of Aviation, E tū.

“E tū is the largest union at Air New Zealand with over 5000 members.

“The Air New Zealand board remains committed to the High-Performance High Engagement approach, and E tū members and delegates are looking forward to meeting with their new CEO to talk about raising the standard of union-management projects and processes.

“Walmart had a reputation in the USA as an anti-union, anti-worker employer but there were clear improvements in the company’s approach under Foran’s leadership.

“Aviation workers are unionised workers. Leadership in the Aviation industry means working with your employees, not against them.”

ENDS

For more information, contact:

Savage Head of Aviation, E tū ph. 027 590 0074

Metals MECA settles

E tū’s flagship employment agreement for manufacturing, the Metals and Manufacturing Multi-Employer Collective Agreement, has been settled.

The Agreement, or Metals as it is known, is E tū’s oldest and biggest manufacturing industry agreement and provides a guide for all pay deals across the manufacturing sector.

The one-year settlement includes pay rises of between 3 percent and 3.7 percent and retains a margin of 50 cents above the minimum adult wage for the lowest printed pay rates in the document.

Members also secured an enhanced redundancy provision for workers with between six and 12-months service.

“As with many other renewals of collective agreements around the country at the moment, this agreement had to take into account two increases in the minimum wage, and at the same time, to maintain the relativities with wages across the industry,” says E tū advocate, George Hollinsworth. 

“The settlement does this and we think the pay deal we’ve reached is a good one.”

ENDS

For more information, contact;

George Hollinsworth E tū Advocate ph. 027 675 1338