Category: Communications

E tū, PWUA and NZ Post met for three days of bargaining over 10,11 and 12 March.

There were over 90 claims combined between the three parties and over 50 people in the room so it is a large and complex bargaining process.

Amongst many important claims, the major claims for E tū were around wages, location of work and movement between sites, and a fair deal for PPM posties if PPM is taken away. These claims remain unresolved and we are not satisfied with the company’s position nor offers on these matters.

There was some provisional agreement on smaller claims of ours including parity for goldplated Courier Post members, a review of bereavement leave wording, a review of annual leave policies and when it can be taken, paid breaks for SDCs. There were also some positive discussions around forklift rates but they are not yet resolved.

Post has the largest number of claims. Some of these were considered clawbacks the by the unions, and we resisted them strongly. We agreed to some claims of the company’s that were simple wording fixes or the removal of unnecessary clauses.

E tū and PWUA worked strongly together to advance the interests of all union members regardless of which union they belong to.

We are meeting again on 18 and 19 March.

PLEASE NOTE: WE UNDERSTAND THAT THE COMPANY IS CURRENTLY SENDING OUT UPDATE TO ALL MANAGERS AND TEAM LEADERS. THIS UPDATE IS THE COMPANY’S UPDATE ONLY AND DOES NOT REFLECT E TŪ’S POSITION ON ALL MATTERS.

Our events with Jacqueline Park are happening next week in Auckland and Wellington.

Jacqui is a Senior Fellow at the Centre for Media Transition, University of Technology, Sydney, and will speak on her report on media innovation in New Zealand and Australia. Both events will also explore the role of public media.

Jacqui’s presentation will be followed by a panel discussion at both events, featuring top media players for what we hope will be a lively exploration of issues and challenges confronting the Fourth Estate, as well as the latest media innovations in Australasia. Audience participation is welcome!

Details are below:

In Auckland:
When: Thursday, 5 March, 5pm for a 5.30pm start – 7pm.Venue: Foyer, NZME, 2 Graham Street (off Victoria Street) Auckland

The panel will be chaired by Brent Edwards, the Political Editor of NBR and will include Spinoff founder, Duncan Grieve, Rick Neville, the Editorial Director of the Newspaper Publishers Association, Miryana Alexander, Head of Premium NZME, and Chris Warren, former Federal Secretary of the Media Entertainment Alliance of Australia.

In Wellington:
Venue: Beehive Theatrette
When: Friday, 6 March 3pm-5pm

The event will be hosted by Broadcasting Minister, Kris Faafoi. The panel includes Chair Chris Warrant as well as Bernard Hickey from Newsroom and Kim Griggs from RNZ. 

If you can make either of these exciting events, we’d love to see you there!

NB: if you plan to attend the Wellington event you will need to provide you name to parliament at least two days beforehand for security purposes. You can do this by emailing Brent Edwards with your details: brent@nbr.co.nz

Names in by Tuesday 3 March please.

14 February 2020

MEDIA RELEASE

E tū: NZ First photographs deeply worrying

The journalists’ union, E tū is seeking an assurance from New Zealand First on behalf of its journalist members, that it is not involved in tracking journalists as they go about their work.

Reports that coalition member New Zealand First took photographs of Stuff journalist Matt Shand and RNZ journalist Guyon Espiner meeting former New Zealand First president Lester Gray in Tauranga are deeply worrying.

Paul Tolich, E tū Senior National Industrial Officer says the union is not reassured by Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters’ initial response that “we took the photographs just to prove that’s the behaviour going on”, nor his subsequent claim that one of the party’s supporters took the photograph.

“Mr Peters and his party might be unhappy with the reporting of the party’s fundraising, but journalism’s role is to hold those in power to account without fear or favour,” says Paul.

“The work of Mr Shand and Mr Espiner is a good example of that.

“The sort of tactics undertaken by New Zealand First in photographing the journalists and then having the photograph posted on a right-wing political blog is chillingly similar to other examples of attacks on journalists as they go about their work in countries where the freedom of journalists is suppressed.

“Mr Peters needs to apologise to the journalists and give a categorical assurance nothing like this will happen again.”

ENDS

For further information, contact:

Paul Tolich E tū Senior Industrial Officer ph. 027 593 5595

The E tū NZ Post collective agreement is up for renewal at the end of February and all E tū members at NZ Post are encouraged to have their say by participating in the claims process. To enable the best level of participation we are holding meetings in person, contacting members via telephone, calling for claims through delegates, and providing information online. The process will vary from site to site, but anyone with questions is encouraged to ring E tū Support on 0800 1 UNION (0800 186 466) to speak to an organiser.

A list of key claims has been drafted by the E tū national delegate team and we are seeking their endorsement. Additional claims can be raised and these will be assessed by the national delegate team before bargaining.

Bargaining is scheduled for the following dates:

• 27 February
• 28 February
• 10 March
• 11 March
• 12 March
• 18 March
• 19 March

Important documents

Key claims list

These are the key claims, as well as the ratification rate (50% of all members + 1) and the names of the full E tū bargaining team.

E tū NZ Post Collective Agreement

E tū decent work survey

Achieving ‘decent work’ for our members is one of the core aspirations of the union. This concept is also an aspiration of other groups such as the United Nations, the Human Rights Commission and the CTU, and includes good wages, safe workplaces, secure jobs, sustainability and more. We want to know what decent work means for our members at NZ Post and so we are requesting that all members fill out our online decent work survey.

E tū union met today with Visionstream and UCG contractors to discuss big cuts by Chorus to payments for maintenance work on its copper and fibre network north of Auckland.

The changes affect the codes which determine what the contractors are paid, and these have been slashed by almost a third, says E tū Industry Coordinator, Joe Gallagher.

“The contractors were presented with new contracts and told to sign. The rates that determine their pay are set to drop by 30 percent, and they’re not happy,” he says.

“The new contracts also require they are available for work but there is no guarantee they’ll get any.”

Joe says the contractors are already struggling with rising costs and issues with mental health because of the pressures they face.

“All the costs and risks sit with them but many lack the capital to ride out a lean patch.”

Joe says Chorus committed to improving conditions for its contractors and subcontractors after an investigation found many were in breach of minimum employment standards.

He says in the wake of the investigation, Chorus did its own report, which recommended changes to ease pressure on its contractors, but “that’s not what’s happening here”.

“This latest move flies in the face of Chorus’s commitment to ensure the contractors receive a sustainable income.”

Joe says the meeting, which was hosted by the Telecom Contractors Association of New Zealand (TCANZ) discussed how the contractors and the union can work together to achieve better outcomes.

ENDS

For more information, contact:

Joe Gallagher E tū Industry Coordinator ph. 027 591 0015

E tū, the union for journalists, has welcomed the announcement today of a $1million pilot scheme to improve local news reporting.

The scheme, dubbed the Local Democracy Reporting Service, will see 8 journalists hired to report on publicly funded bodies such as councils, council committees, community boards, District Health Boards, council-owned enterprises, local trusts, and ports.

The scheme is an initiative of the Newspaper Publishers Association, together with RNZ and the government through the RNZ/NZ on Air Innovation Fund.

E tū Senior National Industrial Officer, Paul Tolich says it’s no secret that reporting on local issues has deteriorated sharply in recent years, as the number of journalists in newsrooms has declined.

“Local bodies and other publicly funded entities are responsible for billions of dollars in public funds and they must be accountable to the public. But as newsrooms have shrunk, there has been less scrutiny than ever of the politicians and officials who manage these often very substantial businesses,” says Paul.

“This scheme will help keep them accountable by ensuring greater scrutiny from the Fourth Estate.”

Paul says the union is also encouraged to see support across the media for the initiative.

“The reporters will be based in newspaper newsrooms, but they will be supplying stories to a wide range of other media.  It’s a great example of cooperation over an issue that has raised concerns across the industry.”

Paul also paid tribute to the government which set up the $6 million RNZ/NZ on Air Innovation Fund which is funding the1-year pilot.

“The fund was set up to support media content which is under-served and that’s certainly the case with our publicly elected and funded organisations. So, this is money that’s been wisely spent.”

ENDS

For more information, contact:

Paul Tolich E tū Senior Industrial Officer ph. 027 593 5595

E tū welcomes today’s announcement by Chorus that Downer has secured the maintenance contracts for Chorus’s copper and fibre network outside Auckland and Northland.

Downer’s win comes at the expense of contracting company, Broadspectrum which formerly shared the work, but has now lost its contracts.  

“Downer is a highly experienced infrastructure company and the decision is reassuring in terms of the quality of maintenance work we can expect on the network,” says E tū Industry Coordinator, Joe Gallagher.

However, he says the decision will affect about 450 Broadspectrum workers who are now without a job.

“A major contractor has lost its work which will mean major upheaval. People will have to reapply for jobs. We’ll be working with Broadspectrum and Downer to facilitate that process. Downer is a large company so there’s a lot of opportunity,” says Joe.

Meanwhile, he says the union is very disappointed that Chorus contractor, Visionstream has had its network maintenance contracts reconfirmed in Auckland and Northland.

“This is extremely disappointing given the findings of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment investigation around Visionstream’s employment practices,” says Joe.

“This can only be seen as Chorus’s way of telling the Government to mind its own business.

“These networks are critical infrastructure and in our biggest city, its care remains with a company that has been shown to support a sub-contracting model which has led to exploitation and breaches of basic labour standards.

“We will continue to monitor Visionstream’s compliance with employment standards and support any workers who need our assistance in Auckland and Northland,” he says.

ENDS

For more information, contact;

Joe Gallagher E tū Industry Coordinator ph. 027 591 0015  

E tū welcomes the release of three Newsroom journalists who were arrested in Fiji but says they should never have been detained in the first place.

Newsroom co-editor Mark Jennings, Investigations editor Melanie Reid, and cameraman Hayden Aull were detained and held overnight at the main Suva police station after developer Freesoul Real Estate accused them of criminal trespass.

The journalists were released this morning and the Fijian PM, Frank Bainimarama has apologised.

E tū’s Senior National Industrial Officer, Paul Tolich says the union welcomes the release of the journalists but says they should never have been arrested in the first place.

“The journalists were simply engaged in journalistic inquiries about the impact of development on Malolo Island and the actions of the police are another example of Fiji’s intolerance towards a free and independent press,” says Paul.

“Despite the apology from Fiji’s Prime Minister, this will have a chilling effect on journalism in the Pacific,” he says.  

“Journalists need to be able to challenge the powerful and hold them to account. This is the hallmark of a free and democratic society.

“We urge the Fijian government to support independent journalism rather than maintaining a climate which supports those who would seek to suppress it.”

ENDS

For further information, contact:

Paul Tolich E tū Industrial Officer ph. 027 593 5595

Members at Fuji Xerox offices in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin are into their second straight day of strike action today.

It’s their fourth full-day stoppage as they fight for backpay on Fuji Xerox’s 2% pay offer.

“If they don’t get the back pay, it means these workers will have had a wage freeze for a year, so they’re committed to this fight,” says Joe Gallagher, E tū Industry Coordinator.

The members will be picketing in Auckland outside Fuji Xerox’s office on Carlton Gore Road until 2pm.

ENDS

For more information, contact:

Joe Gallagher E tū Industry Coordinator ph.027 591 0015