Month: May 2019

Frustrated Access members vote for action over offer

Access Community Health coordinators, administrators, and call centre workers have voted to take further industrial action this Friday after efforts to negotiate a new pay deal failed.

The PSA and E tū bargaining team attended mediation last Thursday in the hopes of securing a better offer.

However PSA Assistant National Secretary, Melissa Woolley, says a fresh offer to lift pay for many members by only 50 cents an hour left members unimpressed.

“The mediation last week showed us that Access is beginning to listen to our members, but a lack of significant movement on pay has only served to strengthen our members’ resolve. They still feel undervalued by their employer,” says Ms Woolley.

“As a result, members voted overwhelmingly to reject the offer and to take further action instead.”

The industrial action this Friday will include a nationwide walk-out from 1:00pm until close of business, as well as picketing at select offices around the country, including a picket from 1:00-3:00pm outside the Access head office in Petone.

“This strike action is not being taken lightly,” says E tū Home Support coordinator Kirsty McCully.

“It is a last resort for our increasingly frustrated members, and we urge Access to return to the bargaining table with a fair and respectful pay offer.

“Knowing the money is there but that Access simply doesn’t want to give their workers a fair increase is insulting to both the members and Access service users.”

E tū welcomes the Wellbeing Budget

E tū is applauding the Government for today’s Wellbeing Budget, which puts significant investment in areas important for Kiwi families.

John Ryall, E tū’s Assistant National Secretary, says the Budget demonstrates that the Government has “people in need at the front of their minds”.

“This Wellbeing Budget will bring significant change for some of society’s most vulnerable people,” John says.

“The big increase in funding for mental health services was long overdue. It was good to see the Government accept nearly all of the recommendations from the mental health and addictions inquiry yesterday. Today, they’ve put their money where their mouth is.

“Indexing the main benefits to wage increases is also a good idea. For many lower income people, living costs are rising well above inflation, particularly housing costs. This new approach is more reasonable. However, benefits remain at poverty level and that still needs to be fixed.

“We are also pleased with investments in child poverty reduction, decent infrastructure, better services at schools, our hospitals, and more.

“There’s a lot to celebrate for the people who need the government’s attention most, but there’s a lot more to be done.”

ENDS

For more information and comment, contact John Ryall: 027 520 1380

IDEA strike four – info for members

Why Friday’s strike at IDEA is going ahead

Dear members,

Last Friday, we held our eighth day of bargaining with IDEA. The good news is management didn’t walk out like they did last time and we were able to present them with nearly 700 personalised messages from members (the ‘wanted’ posters) to go the Board. Since neither the Board nor CEO Ralph Jones agreed to come to the meeting, we have provided copies for them to read. The bad news is they are still insisting on being able to force staff to move between services and facilities and slash health and safety rights.

As a result, we have started legal proceedings in the Employment Relations Authority to seek a formal facilitation hearing. This is a legal process that can test the employer position but to be successful in our application, Friday’s 8.30 – 9.30 strike must go ahead.

Your strike action is a critical part of our application. We’ve also said IDEA has seriously undermined the bargaining by making false statements about members (the letters from Ralph Jones which you may have seen).

It’s good to remember that the vote for action as over was overwhelmingly endorsed and that further strikes are planned for an hour from 8.30 on Friday 7th with a 12-hour strike on the weekend of the 16th and a 24-hour strike on the following weekend – if needed.

Taking a one-hour strike this and next Friday is your legal right and makes our application to the Authority all the more likely to succeed. It also shows you are serious about protecting your current rights. Members who don’t take part risk undermining that process.

Members are also  reminded of the union negotiated equal pay rise due on 1 July  with increase of 80 cents to $1 an hour. Taking action does not affect that increase.

Remember, IDEA’s attempts to your current slash health and safety rights and force so called ‘flexibility’ cannot be imposed on any member without your consent, so Friday’s action shows we are serious.

This week, 50,0000 teachers took nationwide action in support of their workplace rights, so we are in good company!

For more information contact E tū Union support on 0800 1 UNION.

Strike four Friday for E tū IDEA Services members

Workers supporting New Zealanders with intellectual disabilities at IDEA Services will strike tomorrow for one hour from 8.30am in support of their employment agreement negotiations.

The nationwide strike will be the fourth in the past two months and follows a bid by IDEA Services, the operational arm of IHC, to cut working conditions.

E tū advocate, Alastair Duncan says the union represents nearly 3000 workers and the one-hour strike is intended to show the determination of staff to prevent IDEA undermining crucial health and safety rights.

“This will be the fourth strike since April and is a direct result of a management that is not listening,” says Alastair.

Last week the union delivered 700 personalised messages from care staff asking the Board to talk with staff.

“For seven months we have repeatedly asked IDEA Services decision makers to sit down and talk but to date the Board and Chief Executive have refused to meet with us.”

E tū has asked the Employment Relations Authority for urgent facilitation citing protracted negotiations, bad faith and strike action as reasons to bring the parties together.

ENDS

For further information, contact:

Alastair Duncan E tū advocate ph. 027 245 6593

E tū welcomes Local Democracy Reporter scheme

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

Statement on behalf of E tū members employed at Parliament

We broadly support the findings and recommendations of Debbie Francis’ independent review into Bullying and Harassment in the New Zealand Parliamentary Workplace. We want to thank staff for taking the difficult and brave step of making their voices heard in this review. 

The report highlights the unique and high-pressure environment of this workplace where an unusual employment relationship exists that has the effect of leaving staff extremely vulnerable.

There are several proposed actions outlined in the report that we believe, if taken urgently, can make a meaningful difference to address the systemic bullying and harassment in the parliamentary workplace. These are:

1.       Appoint an Independent Parliamentary Commissioner for Conduct

–        There needs to be an independent whistle-blowing mechanism for bullying and harassment in the workplace that puts accountability above political interests.

2.       Establish a Sanctions Working Group

–       We support training for Members of Parliament (MPs) to become good managers but we also want to ensure there are protections for staff entering offices where there is a high-turnover of staff.

–       We want to see additional training and mentoring for offices where this occurs before further permanent staff are hired.

–       Agencies should be responsible for temporary staff and their wellbeing in these offices.

–       Where inappropriate behaviour persists, the public should be made aware of a member’s behaviour in extreme circumstances.

3.       Identify a single employer for each job role

–        The Review’s recommendations go into significant detail outlining a new HR system but we feel that until there is absolute clarity on who is the employer for each of the roles at parliament there will be no accountability.

4.       Replace current events-based contracts for Member support and political staff with new fixed term employment agreements for the duration of a parliamentary term

Unfortunately, some of the recommendations ignore the reality of political parties who need to function in the parliamentary workplace.

The Francis Review also mentions remuneration reviews for staff who work long hours in an extraordinary environment. It is important to note that some political parties have the means to provide additional benefits to staff and others do not. 

It is our view that it is critical that an independent authority oversees remuneration for staff instead of political parties, who are incentivised to keep staff wages low compared with the rest of the public service due to the media scrutiny that any increases via agencies would attract.

This is the collective lived experience of staff who believe that these are the changes that need to be a priority for the next steps in the response to the Review.

ENDS

For more info or comment: Paul Tolich 027 593 5595

E tū: Waikato Hospital assault tip of iceberg

E tū says the serious assault on a security guard at Waikato Hospital this week is the tip of the iceberg and it’s time to end the use of security contractors who don’t provide adequate training, support and safe staffing.

Today, our injured member is out of the hospital’s High Dependency Unit but has severe injuries and faces a long recovery.

E tū Industry Coordinator, Sam Jones says assault is a daily risk for hospital security guards who are routinely understaffed and frequently poorly trained.    

“Most guards are too afraid to speak publicly for fear of losing their jobs, but we know of at least six cases where security guards have suffered serious assaults in our hospitals,” says Sam.

“In one case a guard was knocked unconscious and wasn’t found for half an hour; another is still recovering months after an assault with a fire extinguisher and another was the target of a knife attack.”  

He says the DHBs are placing their faith in budget security firms, which are failing to keep workers safe.

“They have an obligation to provide a safe working environment. They might be saving money by using contractors, but our injured worker has paid a very high price for that.”

The Convenor of E tū’s Runanga, Sharryn Barton is a former security guard, who once worked at the secure unit at Henry Bennett, Waikato Hospital’s mental health unit.

She says wages and conditions for security guards are very poor, while training is sometimes non-existent, despite the risks.

“Most contractors are desperate to get the work, so they’ll overlook certain things to get the contract, and that puts the workers at risk,” she says.

“Many are Tangatawhenua, Pacific Islanders and other migrants and women – the easiest people to exploit because they’re desperate for the job.

“I think we need an investigation into the security industry including the practices and ethics of these contractors as well as the people who contract them, to make sure workers aren’t bearing unacceptable risks just to keep their jobs.”

Sharryn says the whole issue of procurement standards for services such as hospital security also needs to be investigated.

Sam says the union will also be pushing WorkSafe to designate security as a high-risk occupation – a view shared by the better security firms and the New Zealand Security Association.

ENDS

For more information, contact:

Sam Jones E tū Industry Coordinator ph. 027 544 8563

To contact Sharryn Barton please call Karen Gregory-Hunt ph. 022 269 1170.

Strike three at IDEA – and we’re out

When IDEA management walked out of mediation last week they left us with no option but to go ahead with l Monday’s strike from 3.30 to 4.30.

We had hoped they would have stayed and negotiated but they didn’t.  So now members are on strike again for one hour –  this Monday 20th  3.30 to 4.30

Monday’s strike will be the third over the last two months and there is further strike set for Friday  31st May from 8.30 am to  9.30 am.

We’ve already agreed to attend mediation before the 31st ,  but don’t yet know if IDEA will turn up, or how long they’ll stay.

PS This weekend KFC Carls Jnr and Pizza Hutt workers are on strike – so please get your takeaways somewhere else!

For more information contact 0800 1 UNION 0800186466

DHB, Allied Security fail assaulted security guard

E tū says Allied Security and the Waikato DHB failed in their duty to protect a hospital security guard who suffered serious injuries in an assault at Waikato Hospital early on Wednesday morning.

The guard was injured after she stepped in to protect nursing staff.

E tū Waikato senior organiser, Iriaka Rauhihi, who has visited the member, says she’s in a bad way in Waikato Hospital’s high-dependency unit, and the union is providing support for her and her family.

“She’s suffered severely, with multiple injuries to her head, face and body, and will require multiple surgeries. It’ll be a long road to recovery and we’re lucky we’re not dealing with a fatality,” she says.

Iriaka says the woman’s family is horrified by what’s happened to her.

“Obviously they are shattered and frightened. They want to know how come she was injured like this and why wasn’t she safe?”

The guard is employed by DHB security contractor, Allied Security which Iriaka says has consistently failed in its obligation to protect its security guards from harm.

She says under-staffing and working weeks in excess of 60 hours are common.

“Our members tell us they’re really tired, over-worked and fed-up. It’s about this employer not putting in the resources and staffing to keep people safe, especially in high-risk areas like Henry Bennett and the Emergency Department.”

Iriaka says Allied is aware of the problems, but won’t address them, raising the question of whether it should be working as a health sector contractor.

She says the Health Sector Relationships Agreement requires Allied to work constructively on issues such as safety, but “Allied doesn’t think it has to be part of it.”

Iriaka says the DHB also has to accept that it too has a duty to ensure a safe working environment.

“We’re calling on the DHB to intervene to ensure the contractor is keeping its workers safe, because at the moment the guards don’t feel safe. They feel overworked and at risk.

“This is a clear example of how unsuitable Allied is in terms of working in the health sector and the DHB needs to reconsider this contractor. Our member has suffered a horrific ordeal which could have been prevented.”

ENDS

For further information, contact:

Iriaka Rauhihi Senior E tū organiser, ph. 027 544 8697