Month: July 2024

150 people picket against cuts to care at Ardiva’s Village at the Park

This afternoon about 150 people joined a picket line outside Ardiva’s Village at the Park, a residential aged care facility in Newtown, Wellington.

The lively crowd included residents from Village at the Park, their families, workers, and neighbours from the wider Newtown community. The event was hosted by E tū and NZNO.

With Arvida proposing to cut over 400 hours a week from care workers, nurses, and activity coordinators, the picketers had deep concerns about the impact on affected workers and the care they can provide.

E tū delegate and care worker Rita Narendra, who spoke at the rally, worries about the impact of the proposed cuts on residents.

“With fewer staff, we won’t be able to care for all of them because there won’t be enough time,” Rita says.

“I don’t want any resident to stay in bed until the end of the shift. I don’t want to see residents not getting up to enjoy their life as they always do. I don’t want to see any resident ringing the bell with no one attending to them. It’s very sad.

“Cutting staff means we won’t be able to spend time with them, to listen and ask questions. It’s not just about care, it’s about listening to them and spending time with them, so they feel like this is still home. We don’t want to take anything away from them.

“I want Arvida to know they’ve been providing a beautiful service for years. Why change now? Their name is held in high regard. People talk positively about this place, so why go back? Why not continue providing quality life for these residents who appreciate it so much? That’s my biggest question.”

NZNO care workers Charith Weerasuriya Arachchige and Nama Wiejesinghe share the sentiment.

“We feel huge frustration. How am I to give my all? We are not working with machines, they are humans,” Charith says.

“It’s hard because we are dealing with emotional stress, not just physical, and we need to have good mental health,” Nama says.

Village at the Park resident Lew Skinner spoke on behalf of independent living residents at the facility. He knows that the proposed cuts don’t make sense.

“No one sees staff sitting around doing nothing – we see no fat in the system,” Lew says.

“These proposals affect all of us. Independent residents are part of the Village at the Park ‘Living Well’ community, many are one short step away from moving into the care units.

“Residents and their relatives are dismayed they had not been clearly told by Arvida what is happening – the two letters they’ve received had given no real information and had just confused people.

“We recognise there are financial challenges. We do not believe the solution to this problem lies in cutting the numbers of staff, who are the lowest paid and most vital to resident well-being.”

ENDS

If you are a worker or resident at Village at the Park, or would just like to help us stop the cuts, email joanna.wallace@etu.nz to get involved!

Downer cuts show the model is broken

A proposal by Downer Group New Zealand to reduce their power workforce by 12% should set off alarm bells for people concerned about our infrastructure.

The company, which is a major contractor responsible for implementing and maintaining energy infrastructure, is holding meetings with their workforce across the country this week to present their new proposal, which they say is in response to shareholder and investor pressure in the face of uncertain foreseeable work.

A Downer worker, who wishes to remain anonymous for fear of retribution from the company, says the decision is short-sighted and presents real risk to our infrastructure networks.

“We struggle to fill our stand-by rosters now as it is, which has huge implications for the standard of service we can provide,” they say.

“A smaller workforce means people waiting longer when their power goes off. It means taking longer to get to a power pole after a car accident – people could die before we get there to turn off the power.

“If there’s a serious storm, it’s all hands on deck. A smaller workforce at Downer means they’ll have to get in other contractors in that situation, who might charge double for the work. It doesn’t make sense.”

The worker says he’s worried about what these redundancies will mean for workers and their families.

“There are generations of people working in these jobs. Some depos might have an older worker, their kid, and their grandkid at the same place. Job losses on this scale will really hurt families.

“There’s usually work going somewhere, but you might have to up sticks and move somewhere you don’t know anyone. You might get worse pay and conditions. Some guys might bugger off to Australia.”

E tū Negotiation Specialist Joe Gallagher says the proposal shows the model for providing and maintaining this essential infrastructure is broken.

“More and more, we’re seeing the dangerous effects of the competitive contracting model in the delivery of services,” Joe says.

“This is a well-established workforce with a long history of looking after New Zealand’s electricity networks. Having a series of smaller contractors undercutting Downer to win the contracts results in a scattered, less cohesive approach to the delivery and maintenance of the infrastructure.

“The asset owners need to understand what it really takes to keep the lights on, and we’re worried that they are letting some immediate cost-cutting present a real risk not just to the livelihoods of the Downer workforce, but to the very core of New Zealand’s infrastructure.”

Power to Win: The story of our Living Wage Movement

Originally published by the Council of Trade Unions

Never have we needed to talk about power to win decent wages more than right now. With an ongoing assault on workers’ rights and conditions — the repeal of Fair Pay Agreements, massive public sector layoffs, the undermining of sick pay, a pitiful and mean-minded increase to the minimum wage — people power is needed more than ever.  

Sometimes it feels as if we are back to May 1991 and the advent of the Employment Contracts Act, courtesy of another newly-elected National government. At that time I was a new union organiser, working for the Hotel and Hospital Workers Union, that became the Service and Food Workers Union and later E tū.  I’d learnt about unions in the 1980s, as a newspaper compositor and member, activist and delegate in the Printer’s Union.

Before 1991 most workers in Aotearoa were covered by union-negotiated awards and agreements. The ECA took power from workers and their unions and handed it over to employers. Union membership plummeted and so did pay rates and conditions.

Unions looked to win back power and tried many different approaches. In 2011 SFWU reached out to the community and invited other unions, faith groups and community organisations to form a new movement committed to addressing poverty pay.  In 2012, the Living Wage Movement was launched with the goal of building community power to win the Living Wage.

The movement has been hugely successful and the lives of thousands of workers and their whānau have been transformed as a direct outcome of Living Wage campaigns — in corporates, in local and central government and in the small employers and NGOs that led the way.  The movement has changed the way we talk about wages in Aotearoa from what is lowest an employer can legally pay to what is the wage a worker and their whānau need to lead decent lives and participate in society.

Power to Win tells the story of the Living Wage Movement, from the idea in 2011, the launch in 2012  and the campaigns waged across Aotearoa to win decent wages. The story is told through the voices of workers, activists and leaders in the movement.  There are workers’ stories throughout the book — stories of workers struggling on low wages, of the courageous workers who speak out for the Living Wage, stories of campaigns across Aotearoa  and of the transforming power of the Living Wage in workers’ lives.

Power to Win is a story about the power of alliance, of joining forces with others across civil society who care about poverty wages and want to work together for change. It’s a story about what we can achieve through people power — how we form alliances with faith groups and the broader community and how we can use that power to win.

The Living Wage story is a story of power and a story of winning.  But the story isn’t over. Wherever workers struggle on poverty pay rates we need to build power to win. That story goes on.

Author: Lyndy McIntye. Lyndy is an E tū Life Member and an Associate Fellow of NZEI Te Riu Roa. She has worked for a range of unions in Aotearoa and briefly in Australia since 1990. In 2015 she took up the role of community organiser in the Living Wage Movement, until 2020 when she began to write Power to WinPower to Win can be ordered online through Nationwide Books.

Hundreds rally for pay equity for care and support workers

Joint release from E tū, PSA, and NZNO

Hundreds of people came together across the country today (Monday 1 July) at rallies calling on the Government to fully fund a pay equity settlement for care and support workers.

The three care and support unions, E tū, PSA, and NZNO, organised the rallies in Auckland, Hamilton, Palmerston North, Wellington, Nelson, Christchurch, Dunedin, and Invercargill.

Workers chose today to rally because it marks two years since the claim was initiated and no settlement has been reached. Care and support workers at the rallies called on the Government to recognise their value.

“Imagine a world where our work is truly valued, where our contributions are fairly compensated” said PSA delegate Pinky Kumawat in her speech from Wellington. “This isn’t just a dream; it’s a demand for justice.”

In Wellington, NZNO delegate Anita Cook said, “Some of my colleagues regularly work 16 hours straight – some of them have even worked 24 hours straight. Vulnerable Kiwis depend on us for ensuring their well-being and livelihoods.”

E tū delegate Cushla Rahman got a resounding response in Auckland when she asked her fellow workers: “Do you feel like me; undervalued, not appreciated, and underpaid?”

“Pay equity means that caregivers can afford to have a life outside of their job,” said Cook. “And that means we have refreshed caregivers coming to work and giving their best. It means less burnout, less unplanned leave, and better care.”

The claim affects 65,000 people working in disability support, aged residential care, home support, and mental health and addictions support. The unions have worked with employers and Government in good faith for two years to reach a settlement, providing extensive evidence that care and support workers are underpaid.

ENDS