Author: E tū

The Boarding Supervisors/Matrons at Iona College in Havelock North will take strike action from this afternoon in support of a fair settlement of their pay claims.

The members will strike for 24 hours from 2.29pm today until 2.29pm tomorrow. 

E tū organiser, Thomas O’Neill says the members have been in talks to try to settle their collective agreement since November 2017.

“That’s almost two years, and the employer still won’t agree to offer them guaranteed hours or fair pay rates for the work they do,” says Thomas.

He says as well as guaranteed hours, members are seeking the same pay rates as care and support workers receive as a result of the equal pay settlement.

“It’s the same kind of work,” says Thomas. “Our members look after people. They are entrusted with the care of other people’s children, but their work is under-valued.”

The Boarding Supervisors/Matrons, including Iona College member spokesperson, Tracey Whittington say without secure hours and income, they are struggling.

“We feel undervalued and the pay rate doesn’t reflect our responsibilities or the unsociable hours we work. We all work shifts, including weekends,” says Tracey.

“We also need guaranteed hours because we lose money every time the school shuts down and that’s quite often and includes extra days on long weekends.

“I’m actually contracted to do 72 hours a fortnight, but I checked my pay recently and I haven’t been paid for that many hours since September.  

“That makes my life a struggle. I have a mortgage to pay. Most of us are sole income earners so this is important to us.”

The members say if pay is averaged out over a year, they are barely earning above the minimum wage.

“I’m lucky I have the support of my partner who receives super. A lot of these women don’t have that support and it’s very hard for them,” says Boarding Supervisor/Matron, Julia Alexander.

“Iona has offered nothing and that’s not good enough,” she says.

The members say they agreed to return to work on Thursday, so they are available to support the students ahead of their first NCEA exams which start the following day.

However, they say if there is no progress, they are prepared to strike again at a later date.

Thomas says care work at boarding schools used to be viewed as charitable work, and that attitude seems to still prevail at Iona College.

“Their employer has behaved very badly for a school that promotes women’s rights. The pay and conditions reflect a belief that the members don’t need secure work, that someone else can help them pay the bills.

“It’s actually strange to see these 19^th century attitudes coming from an all-girls’ school.”

ENDS

For more information, contact:

Thomas O’Neill E tū organiser ph. 027 204 6350 – Thomas is the contact for media seeking interviews with our members.

The E tū and IDEA Services Support Workers Collective Agreement has been ratified by a vote of 83% in favour. This agreement was achieved by the fantastically committed and hardworking bargaining team delegates who can be truly proud of the way that they represented the E tū members interests over a period of 11 months, as well as all members who engaged in the process, attended meetings, and took industrial action.

Ratification is the just the beginning of an exciting year ahead as we work to achieve more funding in the disability sector and put in place a great plan of activities designed to win better lives for workers and consumers in the disability sector.

What’s in the deal?

• Pay increases for Administrators and Service Coordinators with 5.5% backdated and a further 2% from 23 October 2019.
• Scheduling Coordinators being covered by the Collective agreement for the first time with a 2% increase from 23 October 2019.
• A new allowance of up to $70 per week for RIDSAS workers.
• Specialist orientation for all staff working in RIDSAS.
• Specialist training and clinical supervision for RIDSAS staff within six months of the agreement being ratified and regular updates to the union.
• A new on-call allowance of $150 (gross) which will increase if the SM payment increases.
• A process to remove SSW duties from support workers, a 50 cents per hour allowance for designated SSWs until those duties are removed, and two buy-out payment based on agreed criteria. These members will also be fast tracked through the Level 4 training, which provides for a pay increase of up to $2.50 per hour.
• New scheduling clauses for unplanned situations including mileage and paid time, orientation and paid time to prepare in some cases, updates on equipment and support needs, overtime if you are left with people you’re not orientated to support, and a review process if you think these provisions are being misused. 
• A two-year term expiring in October 2020 – so we’re back in bargaining in a year.
• An agreement to work together with IDEA to lobby for more funding to address issues in the sector.

What do the bargaining team delegates say about the deal?

The union bargaining team endorses the outcomes that have been achieved as being all that is possible in the current environment and look forward to working with all the parties to achieve a better funded sector.

What does this mean for SSWs?

Any member who thinks they are a designated SSW or undertaking SSW duties under the agreed criteria will have until 22 November to make an application to be part of the buy-out and a further four weeks to provide evidence to verify they qualify.

Delegates will be released on pay to meet with support workers and help them make their applications for this process and put together the evidence needed. This will probably happen at facility meetings soon, so watch out for those. E tū has produced a template application form to make this easy for you.

Meanwhile, the new scheduling changes will not take effect for three months after the agreement is signed off. E tū will distribute flyers and info cards summarising your rights around these, so you have the information readily available if you need it.

Joint lobbying for more funding

E tū and IDEA have agreed to join forces to lobby the Government for more disability sector funding. We will want you to be actively involved in this work as your voice and your stories will make a difference. The goal is to make sure any government elected in November 2020 prioritises the under-funding of disability services, so money is available when we bargain again in a year’s time.

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.

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.