UNIONEXPRESSNovember 2014

Inside: ANZ Workers on Strike

“I got my mana

back!”Warehouse

worker reinstated

after wrongful dismissal

Warehouse worker, Margaret Maria Harris, says she has her mana back after the Employment Court ruled her dismissal to be unjustified and ordered reinstatement.

Maria was wrongfully dismissed from The Warehouse Kaikohe after her employer inappropriately handled a complaint by a customer. The complaint, which resulted in Maria being dismissed, contained deeply racist comment that she found very offensive.

“I just couldn’t believe it. I was just so struck by the way that the complaint had come across,” said Maria. “The derogatory comments really got to me.”

The complaint had been made after Maria, as the store loss prevention officer, asked some customers to take their dog outside that they had brought into the store. Despite this being company policy, the customers were not happy to do so.

In the letter sent to management the complainant, Mr Pattinson, among other comments about “non-European staff ”, described his dog as “probably cleaner than the people making the fuss and if swabs were taken for [faecal]

coliforms from staff and the dog, I expect the dog would be carrying less”.

Maria was called into a disciplinary meeting as a result of the letter and was ultimately dismissed.

“The impact on me was mental and physical. I felt like I’d been stripped, totally stripped of my mana. What they made me out to be was not who I was,” Maria said.

Maria decided to challenge the dismissal alongside her union, FIRST Union. The matter was heard in mediation and the Employment Relations Authority. “The support to keep me going was from my family, my community and of course FIRST Union.” Story Continued page 2....

Page 2 UNION LOCAL NEWS Union Express November 2014

Maria Harris

Chep dispute settled

Marsden Point oil refinery

Strike action cancelled at major oil refinery

Warehouse worker reinstated after wrongful dismissal continued..

www.FIRSTunion.org.

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Sections

Sudoku/caption contest

Organising school notice

International Story

Bienniel Conference 2014

Disaster capitalism in Christchurch

CEO’s salaries sky high

Stop Work Meetings Success

Aftermath of the Election

No longer hungry for hours

UNIONEXPRESSEditor – Tali WilliamsContributors – Ed Miller, Sam Huggard and Tali WilliamsAuthorised by FIRST Union, 120 Church Street, Onehunga.

SubmissionsWe actively encourage membership participation in your newspaper, the Express. You may fax, email or dictate a story for the Express. We are here to help.Next submission due date: 17 February 2015All comments, letters to the editor, artwork, poetry, photos, ideas, stories should be sent to the following contacts.

Contact UsEmail: Tali.Williams@firstunion.org.nzPhone: 0800 863 477Fax: (09) 622 8353 attention Union ExpressAddress: 120 Church Street, OnehungaPostal Address: Private Bag 92904, AucklandSubscriptions: lynn.ocallaghan@firstunion.org.nz (09) 622 8520Change of address: 0800 863 477

DisclaimerOpinions expressed in the articles do not necessarily represent the views of the FIRST Union.

FIRST UnionFIRST Union is a democratic organisation run by working people for working people. We organise for a better future and for respect for ourselves and our families through building power on the job, in our industries and our community.

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Strike action was withdrawn at New Zealand’s only oil refinery after an agreement was reached for negotiations to continue under the direction of the Employment Relations Authority.

FIRST Union and the Engineering, Printing, Manufacturing Union (EPMU) are currently in negotiations with Refining NZ. Workers at the Marsden Point oil refinery had previously submitted a two week notice of strike action to their employer over job security and safety concerns.

The company’s announcement of plans to use contractor labour instead of Refining NZ staff in order to reach cost savings targets of $30 million had triggered members to look for job security provisions in lieu of a wage increase. “We have seen the effect a high number of contract workers has in a hazardous industry like oil refining with what happened at Pike River” said FIRST Union organiser Jared Abbott.

“Other concerns included the company’s fatigue management during shut-downs, which had previously seen staff working 14 continuous days of 12 hour shifts. “People working long hours for days on end without a rest is completely unsafe. Its bad practise in any industry and is an unnecessary risk,” said Mr Abbott.

The refinery supplies 80% of all fuel in Auckland. “Given the importance of the economic impacts that strike would have had on the country, we felt that it was the right thing to do to explore every option possible to us before engaging in strike action,” said Mr Abbott.

The cancellation of the two day strike left the country’s four main oil companies with an unwanted 50 million litre shipment of aviation fuel shipped from South Korea that they had purchased to minimise the strikes disruption. The company claims the dispute has already incurred a cost of several million dollars.

After a long dispute, workers at Chep in Christchurch have secured a pay increase of 3.5% + 2.5 % over 2 years and a special Christchurch payment of $300 per worker. A report released earlier this year from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) report shows in Christchurch the average weekly rent was $431 at the end of April - about 13 per cent up on the previous year. Auckland’s average weekly rent was $451, however Christchurch rents are on track to reach Auckland levels by the end of the year. The workers had made a claim to towards pay parity with Auckland Chep. They took 3 days of strike action and held pickets. Delegate Willy Faau said “We’ve been very lucky that we’ve got strong density and that our members have stayed strong.”

Maria says members of the community would stop her in the street to offer their support. “They told me that’s not you, we know that’s not you,” she said.

As a result of the dismissal, Maria’s family was torn apart, with her partner Tracy having to find work in Auckland. “It would sometimes take a month before she’d come home, it got to the point for us as a family unit that it wasn’t a family unit, the baby was missing her and was unsettled. This incident played a big mess with our lives.” Her dad, with whom Maria was very close, also fell ill with bowel cancer and died during this time.

When the matter was finally heard in the Employment Court, the judge found that the complaint was from “an irate customer whose mood had gone beyond irrationality and invective and had manifested itself in racial prejudice and hurtful gratuitous insults, not only about Ms Harris but about other staff ”. The judge found this was not taken into due consideration by The Warehouse, and also found Maria did not make the ‘arrogant prick’ comment attributed to her by The Warehouse. The judge ordered reinstatement, lost wages and compensation to be paid.

“When I heard the outcome, I didn’t know how to express myself because to me what had happened was, I felt so much lifted up off me, and my wairua was returned. All I can say is I was given back what I was always going to be,” said Maria.

“I push for people to be part of the union, because I’m an example of what can happen to anybody. You need that backbone of FIRST Union helping and supporting you through these incidents—any incident that could happen within your work environment.”

Page 3www.FIRSTunion.org.nz UNION LOCAL NEWS

Kilbirnie PAK’nSAVE delegates

Countdown workers

Pay rise at Kilbirnie PAK’nSAVE

A win for new migrant workers at Countdown!

Recommended settlement reached for Farmers union membersOver the next few weeks Farmers members will be voting on a negotiated settlement. Most members would receive between 3.8% and 4.3%. The employer has offered a one year deal with a review of actual hours worked with the intent of increasing contracted hours . Also a new clause for provision of discounted work shoes and polar fleeces to workers. Included in the offer is a ‘family and friends’ day for all union members.

NZ Bus members concerned with “race to the bottom”

NZ Bus union members are concerned about the implications of Auckland Transport’s tendering process proposal. The proposal is likely to result in bus company’s with lower labour costs receiving council contracts over those with good wages, terms and conditions. Organiser Graham McKean says workers are concerned about the “race to the bottom” effect where companies with inferior workers rights are rewarded with contracts. NZ Bus Collective Agreement negotiations commence this week.

Whakatu Cold stores

Workers at Whakatu Cold Stores in Hawkes Bay are now covered by a Collective Agreement after a deal was reached between union members and the company. The deal includes a 3% pay increase with non-union staff only receiving this two months after union staff have, $1 per hour night premium between the hours of 10pm and 6am and redundancy provisions. There was also a guarantee of 40 hours work per week for each worker. Organiser Mike McNab says members are very happy with their new agreement and membership has been boosted at the site as a result.

Countdown Paihia workers shut out

Workers at Countdown’s Puketona Rd supermarket in Paihia found themselves on the streets after a late court decision ended the company’s lease effective. Workers turned up as usual for work from 7am but about 10am were asked to leave by building owner Ian Blakeman of Kerikeri. Countdown parent company Progressive Enterprises tried for a number of months to renew the lease on the site before Mr Blakeman took the matter to the Auckland High Court. The court ruled in his favour. Everyone who worked at the Puketona Rd location would been given the opportunity to transition to new positions in other stores.

More than 1000 apply for K-Mart jobsMore than 1000 people applying for 80 jobs at a new K-Mart store in Whangarei is evidence the so-called ‘rockstar economy’ is not working for us all. The retail chain is opening its first Northland store in the Okara Park shopping centre in November.Work and Income, which is acting as K-Mart’s employment agent, said there had been a huge response to ads for staff. Half of those who applied were currently totally unemployed. The desperate shortage of vacancies available to apply for goes to show the reality of unemployment in many regions, such as Northland.

BriefsA new collective agreement at PAK’nSAVE Kilbirnie gives all union members a good pay rise, as a result of workers joining FIRST Union in the past two months to get a better deal.

Delegate Aaron Beadle said the bargaining went very smoothly.

“It was just a good process. It opened the eyes to management that there are a lot of issues that have gone unnoticed for some time.”

“Bargaining brought these issues to the surface, and with the support of the union we can work together with management to create a better store.”

The extra money will help people with food and other living costs, allow people to put a little aside, and for Aaron it will mean he can now save for a car.

He had some advice for other PAK’nSAVE stores considering joining a union for to get a better deal.

“All I can say is believe in yourself, and believe in what a group of people can do.”

Fellow delegate Gareth Ensby’s wages have gone up a dollar an hour as a result of the new deal. He said having a union gave workers better support.

“When you’ve got a job and issues come up, before a union you could either shut up and deal with it, quit, or go to your supervisor and talk but it might not get resolved. But having a union – now we have a fourth option.”

The agreement sees a new benchmark rate of $16.15 an hour for checkout, trolley and assistants in other departments. Many of these workers were previously on the minimum wage of $14.25 to around $15.00.

Night workers who previously had no recognition for the

unsociable hours they worked now have a night allowance of a further one dollar an hour for time worked between midnight and 4 am.

The agreement is for two years, and all rates will increase by a further 3% in October next year.

Sick leave has been increased by an extra day, redundancy provisions are now in place and extra security has been provided around hours of work, which gives better protection of income for workers covered by the agreement.

Countdown will be employing new migrants on permanent contracts from now on, unless there is a valid reason for a fixed term agreement, marking an important step in the rights for new migrant workers.

Many new migrant members were being put on fixed term agreements with the expiry of the agreement linked to the expiry of the persons work visa. Even when the person got a renewed work visa, in some occurences Countdown was letting them go on the expiry date of the fixed term despite the reason for the fixed term no longer being applicable.

“Even when I brought in my new visa, they said to me you have to reapply for your position along with others and we will see who is the best applicant for the job,” said Sukhjeet, a new migrant Countdown worker who was on a fixed term agreement. “This put people at risk because if management didn’t like you for whatever reason they will just not renew your contract. There was a lot of unfair pressure.”

FIRST Union maintained to the company over a number of cases that these workers should be on permanent contracts – if their work visa expires and they don’t renew it they couldn’t continue working by law anyway.

Countdown has now agreed with the union that new migrant workers needn’t be on fixed term agreements. Going forward new migrants hired will be on permanent contracts.

“This is a very positive move,” said Sukhjeet, who is now on a permanent contract “I am glad the union argued for this.”

Hot off the press Full carton policy canned!

From February this year union members have been leading the charge to get rid of Countdowns full carton policy. The new policy meant that workers were being asked to place and remove heavy items such as boxes of cans etc on to the top level of shelving, often unaided by safety equipment. Members were concerned about the number of injuries occurring. One of our delegates in particular Jordan Collin from Countdown Auckland City relentlessly pursued the company on this matter. Jordan and Auckland City members initiated petitions, issued a hazard notice and asked to meet with everyone from the CEO downwards to discuss the issue. We have just found out the company has decided to can the policy! Congratulations all members who were involved in

pursuing this important health and safety issue.

Page 4 UNION MOVEMENT Union Express November 2014

Stopwork meetings a successOver August and September a record 5,800

FIRST Union members attended 64 union stop work meetings from Kaitaia to Invercargill. This year we were joined by members of Unite Union, especially at the large Auckland meetings. Our meetings ranged in size from 5 to almost 1,000 at the two big South Auckland meetings. We also had great turnouts at the night meetings, where night shift members were able to play a full role in union activities.

Our stop work meetings are the accountability meetings for our members. This year they were held in the middle of the General Election campaign. Because of this we turned the second half of the meetings into candidates meetings, to give our members the opportunity to hear directly from candidates from the three parties that had the policies closest to those of FIRST Union; Labour, Greens, and Internet Mana.

We had very positive comments from most of our members, many who said it was the FIRST time that they had ever attended a candidates forum, and that it was great to meet MPs face to face that they usually only saw on television. A few of our members were not happy with the candidate part of the meeting; some on the basis that we should not invite any politicians to our meetings, others on the basis that we should invite all parties, even those who pass laws against unions.

Overall, it was the largest and most successful series of members meetings that we have ever had. Next year we will return to our basic format and try and grow participation numbers beyond the record of this year.

www.FIRSTunion.org.nz UNION MOVEMENT

Aftermath of the election

As part of its 2013-2017 strategic plan, FIRST Union had a goal of the election of a worker-friendly government at the 2014 General Elections. We failed. National and its allies have been elected again. Although FIRST Union is not affiliated to any political party, we strongly advocate for a pro-worker government—which, by definition, is a left government.

There are many reasons why National was re-elected. One was the popularity of its leader John Key. Another was the huge bias that mainstream media showed against the pro-worker parties of the left. Lastly, and most importantly, was that all the pro-worker parties made too many mistakes during the campaign. The Labour Party seemed and still seems to be a party in chaos with everyone fighting each other. The Greens seemed more interested in what positions they would get in Cabinet, and for a couple of days in the last week of the campaign did not deny that they could go with National. And Internet Mana should have taken Dotcom’s money but asked him to stay out of the campaign.

While this is a very disappointing result for working people, FIRST Union can be very proud of the work that it put in at election time. The main part of FIRST Union’s campaign was “Get Out and Vote”, which we did together with the Council of Trade Unions and other unions. 11,000 FIRST Union members were phoned, with 4,000 having a conversation with the union about their plan to vote, and

thousands of FIRST Union members signed up the pledge to “be a voter”. We are confident that more FIRST Union members and their families voted in this election than last. However, there is still a huge number of working people who did not vote, and thus helped ensure the election of an anti-worker government.

The next 3 years will be a difficult period for FIRST Union members and working people in New Zealand. In a few weeks’ time the National and Act parties will combine to pass the amendments to the Employment Relations Act which will make it much harder for us to negotiate and conclude Collective Agreements.

But the election result also means that unions are needed even more to defend and extend the interests of members and working people. It is the union that can make the difference between survival and ruin of working families. We commit to increasing our success in organising and bargaining. It will be a difficult three years, but we are up to the challenge.

What are the changes to employment law

under National ?National has highlighted employment law changes as one of its key priorities in the FIRST 100 days in Government. Proposed changes will affect collective agreements, the 90-day trial period, strike action and rest and meal break provisions. Some of these include:

What can we do? Four perspectives from the union movement

1. Tea breaks:Entitlements to breaks will become more fluid and negotiable and will become increasingly subject to the agreement of the employer.

2. Strikes:Under the amendment Bill, strike notices must specify the action or act that will signal the end of the strike. Currently workers are allowed to simply return to work once their strike action is concluded. The Amendments will also increase the ability of employers to deduct pay for ‘partial strikes’ such as ‘go slows’ and ‘work to rules’.

3. Coverage:The amendments will remove the provision that new employees will be covered by any Collective Agreement within the FIRST 30 days of their employment.

4. Collective Bargaining:The Amendment gives employers the ability to seek a declaration from the Employment Relations Authority that bargaining is at an end and effectively removes the obligation on the parties to conclude bargaining in an agreement. This provision will undermine the ability of Unions to collectively bargain but does not convey a blanket right to employers to ‘walk away’ from bargaining. An employer cannot go through the motions of bargaining and then walk away, they are still bound by the obligation to bargain in Good Faith and, they are subject to Employment Relations Authority’s decision as to whether bargaining can be declared at an end.

5. 90 day trial periods: It is also likely that amendments will be made to the 90 day provisions in the Act as the Employment Court and Authority have watered these down significantly.

Oliver Paegotau, FIRST Union delegate at Progressive DC When you look at something like the Countdown stores, you’ve got a collective agreement that protects breaks, about 15,000 people have their breaks protected because of 6,000 people who stand strong in the union, and protect that contract. These contracts are, you know, sanctuaries of our rights. Union members don’t always appreciate that I think. Sometimes they sort of look at their contracts as just a payrise, and we need to start talking about why these documents are important and how they protect us from changes like what the government is bringing in.

Tom Buckley, assistant Secretary Unite UnionThe new laws are going to come in and are going to change how many employers operate. But we have an advantage really, as our collective agreements provide us the security and the safety to stop these kind of changes happening. When we look at youth rates, they reintroduced youth rates in the second term of the National government. The fast food restaurants ie McDonalds, KFC and the cinemas, these were the places where youth rates were most commonly use, and not one of them has youth rates anymore. The reason is that we won the moral argument with the public, we won the argument with our members, they said ‘no way’, and the companies simply could not get youth rates back in the agreements.

Helen Kelly, President Council of Trade Unions I think the more you disempower workers the less opportunity they have to fight, that’s the reality. Striking is a huge risk for working people, especially those with little income that they can afford to do without, these changes make it even more likely to affect low paid workers in terms of their ability to be creative around their industrial action. The union movement will have to support them. The movement will have to make sure that where workers have a legitimate claim and where the employers are refusing to conclude that we get the numbers and get the community support behind them. We need to start thinking ahead about the opportunities and areas where we’re going to work together, the ways that we can pull people together, to build strength across the movement.

Gayaal Iddamalgoda, FIRST Union legal organizerThe changes to the Employment Relations Act still poses some significant threats to the rights and security of workers in New Zealand, however they are far less virulent than originally intended. In many respects the amendments have opened up a lot of space for litigation, especially around challenging the ability of employers to end the bargaining process. Activism from unions and workers and the delay in getting these reforms through indicates that the Government is not confident enough to push through a complete overhaul of the Employment Relations Act as originally intended.

FIRST Union Secretary Robert Reid

Progressive DC workers

Tom Buckley

Helen Kelly

Gayaal Iddamalgoda

Page 6 INTERNATIONAL UNION MOVEMENT Union Express November 2014

International BriefsIrish construction workers hold crane sit-inBricklayers on a construction site of a new school in Dublin are holding a sit-in atop a crane, 200 feet above the ground. The members of the Unite union have enough food and supplies to maintain their sit-in for eight days and say they will then begin a hunger strike if their demands are not addressed.

As a result of subcontracting at the JJ Rhatigan-owned site, they are only paid €4.90 (NZ$7.90) an hour, one protester, Luke Fitzpatrick, told the Irish Times. Another protestor added, “We’re being paid €4.90 (NZ$7.90) an hour which is well below the minimum wage. This is a government job. It’s taxpayers’ money that’s paying for this job.”

Papua New Guinea power workers on mass sick-leavePNG Power operators from Moitaka, Kanudi, 4-Mile and Rouna plants in Port Moresby submitted “generation sick leave forms” on October 15 stating that they will not work until their wage claims are settled.

The industrial action follows PNG Power management’s decision not to pay field employees an approved wage increase and other outstanding claims. The state-owned company claimed it could not pay all outstanding claims because of its “poor cash flow situation.” A workers’ representative told the media that the company gave executive management a 43.3 percent pay rise but was withholding a 17.7 percent rise for workers that it had agreed to last year. “If nothing eventuates, nobody will attend to any blackouts, interruptions and faulty lines,” he said.

Victory for NXP workers in The PhilippinesFinally, a great victory for NXP workers in The Philippines that were supported by FIRST Union. NXP, a subsidiary of Dutch IT multinational, Philips, tried to bust the union and avoid signing a collective agreement by firing 24 officials of Metal Workers Alliance of the Philippines. Now 12 out of the 24 have won their jobs back, while the other 12 will be given a compensation package. NXP has also agreed to a collective agreement, that gives workers between a 3 and 5% pay rise per year and converts almost 200 contract workers to permanent employment. This win is the result of constant campaigning in the Philippines and around the world. This is a significant campaign because the factory is located in a Special Economic Zone where employers and the state try and break unions and keep wages low to attract investment.

Hong Kong workers join democracy demosThe Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU) has called for workers to strike in support of the democracy movement as mass civil disobedience actions come under heavy police attack. The Swire Beverages (Coca-Cola) union and the HKCTU unions of school teachers and dockers are striking and will be joined by other member unions.Tensions have been building in Hong Kong since the August 31 government announcement that candidates for the position of Chief Executive would have to be vetted and approved by a pro-business, pro-Beijing committee.The protests, originally organized by the students’ federation and the Occupy Central coalition, have drawn increasing numbers of supporters. The mainland government has harshly condemned the protestors’ demands and the “illegal” protests.

To organise is the only option

Boy Barrios, union secretary and worker at a Sumifru banana plantation and packing house in Compostela Valley, Mindanao, shows me the bullet wounds on his bicep and stomach. It was the second time he’d been shot at, this time while he was on a motorcycle with a friend. He survived, and the union kept him hidden for the next three months. The driver hadn’t been so lucky.

Such violent acts of intimidation are commonplace for trade unionists and activists in the Philippines, keeping labour costs and profits high. And New Zealand consumers are a part of this supply chain as well - when I told workers in the packing house I was from New Zealand they excitedly told me that they had just packed 500 boxes of bananas destined for NZ.

Work in the packing houses and plantations starts at 4:30am, and some work until 11pm to make ends meet. The equatorial heat is extreme, and Barrios explains to me about how three workers had collapsed the day before from a new noxious chemical preservative being applied to the bananas. Plantations workers trek across vast stretches of land, regularly coated in aerial sprays linked to all sorts of respiratory ailments and deformities.

What do the conditions of their collective agreement say, I ask Boy. He explains to me that since 2007 they’ve been engaged in a protracted legal dispute with the company that denies the existence of an employment relationship, preventing them from negotiating a collective agreement. Despite the Court of Appeal ruling firmly in favour of the union, the company instantly appealed to the Supreme Court, buying them a few more years. These cases are not uncommon, and Barrios told me he was concerned the company would pay off the judiciary to get the result they want.

Seven years with no collective agreement, yet all the directly employed workers on site are union members. And without the union, they don’t know where they’d be, when everyday issues of bullying, intimidation and exploitation arise, as they always do. No matter how hard things get, to organise is the only option. This message returned to me multiple times during my stay in the Philippines.

It was the lasting message that came from staying with an indigenous community who had survived decades of acute military harassment. Despite the community being almost completely destroyed by Typhoon Pablo, with the assistance of a few progressive NGOs they have rebuilt schools for their children and established sustainable agriculture and reforestation projects for their livelihoods.

It was also clear when I stayed in another community where peasants and miners had together organised to prevent the penetration of major mining companies into their land. The community had also established its own small-scale mining operations, organised into a co-operative structure where the revenues were shared equitably amongst workers.

And it was especially clear when I visited the Pentagon Workers Union strike in Manila, where workers had been on strike for nineteen months, blocking the factory gates and completely stopping production over that period. A worker there told me that forming a union in 2011 had been a turning point for all the workers there. They were happy to sleep in their makeshift shacks on the pavement, provided their commitment to the struggle made conditions better for others at some point in the future.

Worker exploitation is a worldwide phenomenon, and the deep commitment to organising I witnessed in the Philippines was truly inspirational. In fact when I suggested to the Pentagon workers we record a message of solidarity for the striking ANZ workers they were only too keen to help (you can check it out on the FIRST Union facebook page), knowing how important international solidarity has been to them.

It’s critical we take note of the international elements of our struggles as we organise, and how we can work together for mutual benefit. So next time you bite into a banana, take a moment to think about Boy Barrios and the struggles he and his fellow workers have gone through to better their own conditions. Remember that their struggles are your struggles, and that to create a better world, to organise is the only option.

FIRST Union strategic adviser Edward Miller has just returned from a few weeks leave in the Philippines, learning about the depths of exploitation within that country, the cultures of resistance they inspire, and the interconnectedness of our struggles.

Small scale mining provides this Compostela Valley community with a dignified livelihood

Page 7www.FIRSTunion.org.nz UNION NEWS

Strong community support for Living Wage Porirua

No longer hungry for hours – union members’ victory for secure hours

Welcome to our union Countdown bakers!

Union members at Accor Hotel chain have scored an important victory on the road to more secure hours.

Workers will receive a minimum of 25 contracted hours per week, after a new clause was negotiated into the Unite Union Collective Agreement with Accor. Accor is a large national chain that operates a number of different hotels. They have around 4,000 employees across the country.

Members had long-standing issues around insecurity of hours, frequently raising with their employer the difficulties of never knowing week to week what their hours would be.

“A lot of our members have families; they just don’t have any way to pay the rent when their work hours fluctuate,” said Unite Union assistant secretary Tom Buckley. “It’s a rock and a hard place, because then when they go to get a loan from a bank they need to show the bank that they have stability in their income.”

The main issue at Collective Agreement negotiations this year was sorting out the hours, said Keegan Solomon, a delegate from one of the hotels. “People think if I get a pay increase that’s good because I’m going to get more money, but that doesn’t always guarantee you’re going to get enough hours,” he said.

“At the negotiations, Accor management realised that it was actually unfair to have people that are working for you that are fully committed to that employment who are desperate for hours and unable to pay their rent or go and get a loan from the bank,” said Keegan.

Accor agreed to a clause that sees the majority of workers on a guaranteed minimum of 25 hours a week. If, due to low occupancy in a hotel, there were only 23 hours available on a certain week for an employee to work, the company will still pay the worker the guaranteed 25 hours per week.

“It’s a major and radical change for the hotel industry, which has spent the last 3 decades working with complete control over part-time workers’ hours of work,” said Mr Buckley.

Living Wage Aotearoa is going from strength to strength, and a new network just set up in Porirua has already attracted significant community support.

After an initial community meeting in August, a training workshop took place in October to introduce the Living Wage campaign to the community.

Hiueni Nuku, who is a Tongan Methodist Presbyterian and manager of Porirua Union & Community Health Service is one of many now active in the network.

The majority of the population in our area is Maori,

Pasifika and refugee communities.“We run a medical centre in Cannons Creek, and even

though we charge only 5 or 10 dollars still a lot of people cannot afford this.

“It’s very important for our people to stand up and work with Living Wage Porirua to address this poverty,” he said.

Living Wage Porirua getting off the ground follows the earlier establishment of Living Wage Wellington, which last year City Council voted to support paying the living wage to all directly-employed City Council staff, and is working towards a living wage for contracted workers.

Pastor Sione Leasi from the local Samoan Assembly of God congregation told the Pacific Guardians newsletter: “This is good for our communities. I’m glad I am here to show the support from our church.”

Keep in touch with the latest from Living Wage Aotearoa, including reports from activity in all the other areas of New Zealand, at www.livingwage.org.nz.

“There’s plenty of research that shows that actually this kind of employment practice leads to high turnover and loses skillsets for the employer. It’s a huge cost to businesses to try and replace all those staff that have to leave because they are underemployed.”

Keegan says members were very pleased with the success.He is hopeful other employers will follow suit and that other

workers will negotiate similar clauses in their collectives. “Other companies may say wow actually if they can do that maybe we can do it. The good thing is us at Accor, we’re setting the trend, but hopefully it continues.”

FIRST Union is welcoming members of the Bakers Union to its ranks.

In early September, members of the Bakers Union who work at Countdown received notification that the Bakers Union no longer had the resources to continue organising within Countdown.

After discussion with FIRST Union officials, a recommendation was made by the Bakers Union executive to their members at Countdown encouraging them come over to FIRST Union.

Ex-members of the Bakers Union who join FIRST will be covered by the Countdown/FIRST Union Collective Agreement, but will also retain any extra terms and conditions they already have through a grandparenting clause. They will also enjoy an increase to their pay rates upon moving to the FIRST Union bakers’ pay scale.

When the Bakers Union Collective Agreement expires on 2 November it will not be renewed.

With Countdown Bakers Union members joining FIRST Union, there will be a unified and stronger group heading into negotiations with Countdown in early 2015.

Keegan Solomon, Unite Union Delegate

Living Wage Porirua

International BriefsIndia: Striking Bosch workers ignore return-to-work order

Close to 3,000 Bosch Auto employees, including 370 temporaries, at the Adugodi plant in Bangalore have been on strike since September 16 in a dispute for a new work agreement. At least 200 were arrested by police on Monday when 1,000 strikers tried to protest outside the chief minister’s residence in Bangalore over the government’s decision to ban their strike and cut eight days’ pay for each day they remained on strike.The Mico Employees Association wants the 10,000-rupee (NZ$208.30) monthly wage ceiling removed, an end to punitive wage cuts, withdrawal of new medical insurance policies, a working hours review and permanency for temporary workers. They also oppose management’s demand for productivity increases. There have been 36 rounds of failed talks since their last wage increase was due in January 2013.

Women workers in China strike after being denied a pay increaseNearly 800 women workers at a Jiangsu paper mill went out on strike on Wednesday 15 October after being told that they would not get the pay increase that had been awarded to their colleagues because their positions had already been outsourced. The dispute was triggered on 12 October when the workers went to management and demanded an explanation for the decision to deny them a pay rise. During the discussions, they were insulted by a human resources manager who told them to “shut up or sod off!”

This was the last straw for the workers many of whom had worked at the plant for several years. “We will not take this nonsense anymore, they want us to shut up and that is last thing we are going to do,” said a worker who preferred not to disclose her identity. “Neither will we go without putting up a fight. If the company wants to fire us they will have to pay the price.”

South African miners strike continuesNational Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) members on strike at Glencore mines in South Africa have added the demand of a 10 percent share of company profits to their demands. The Glencore miners are striking together with workers from Platchco mining services, a contractor working at Glencore.

On September 27, NUMSA members failed in their attempt to hand in a memorandum of demands at Glencore offices as management were not on hand to receive them.

The demand for profit sharing has been added to demands for a R5000 (NZ$565) basic wage and improvements in several allowances, including 100 percent company-paid medical coverage. They are also calling for an end to discrimination against African women employed by the company. Further demands made are a 14 percent pay claim, the refiguring of shifts and grades and a large list of other workplace changes.

www.FIRSTunion.org.nz FEATURE ARTICLESPage 8 FEATURE ARTICLES Union Express November 2014 Page 9

ANZ workers on strike for job security

“It’s insulting to say that we should only care about things that affect us directly”

Collective agreement negotiations broke down after ANZ proposed to introduce a flexible work clause. The clause would mean that branch staff would only know from one month to the next what days and hours they’re working. ANZ also offered a low pay increase.

98.5% of union members voted to reject the company proposal. Many members nationwide voted to take industrial action, including strike action, marches and pickets.

“Costs are going up and we all have bills to pay,” said one of the service consultants participating in the strike. “If they put us on insecure hours it adds more stress, and it also cuts into our personal lives as well. The bank can afford to treat us well and should.”

ANZ is on track to eclipse last year’s record full-year profit of $1.37 billion, with a net profit of $1.24b in the nine months to June 30. ANZ CEO David Hisco recently received a 14% increase, boosting his salary to $4.2 million.

“The bank is being very aggressive in its attack on workers; both on conditions and the quantum of the pay rise, which is farcical given the profitability The bank is being very aggressive in its attacks on workers; both on conditions and the quantum of the pay rise which at 2%-3% is farcical given the profitability of the bank,” said Maxine Gay, FIRST Union retail and finance secretary

Solidarity between the call centres, back offices and branches at ANZ

Call centre and back office workers are taking a stand for their colleagues in the ANZ branches despite not being affected by the bank’s proposed ‘flexible hours’.

Andy Duncan, Head site delegate for ANZ Tory St and personal banker for ANZ Australia call centre, said it was important that ANZ call centres resisted the changes even though they are not yet affected.

“The last thing you want is for the branches to become flexible, because in 2 years from now the bank will say ‘well the branches are on flexible shifts why aren’t you?” said Andy

Many call centre and back office workers walked out on strike to show their support for a fair deal. In Wellington, around 100 members marched through town to ANZ corporate HQ, with call centre workers leading the way.

The night before the action, ANZ delegates as well as volunteers from other unions contacted Wellington staff to provide information about the strike and also their rights.

“After the action the bank put out some misinformation, saying the union is lying to you, this won’t affect you. It’s insulting us to say that we should only care about things that affect us directly,” said Andy. “It’s about leaving your workplace a better place for new staff going forward. And for us, generations have fought for the conditions we enjoy. They’ve fought for a decent pay scale, and we don’t want to be the generation that loses that ground.”

“It’s flexibility in the sense that the bank can make you work the hours that they

want you to work, to meet their business needs, not flexible to meet your needs.

That impacts people’s lifestyle, their commitments and their family”

Isaac Hayes, ANZ Union councillor and member of the union bargaining team.

Workers have been on strike to protect job security at New Zealand’s most profitable bank ANZ

Page 10 Union Express November 2014FEATURE ARTICLES

There are now many cases of migrant worker exploitation and intimidation in Canterbury. Issues have included unlawfully withholding wages, overtime and holiday pay, extortionate placement fees and exit penalties, accommodation overcrowding, and high use of 90-day trial periods. The conditions of most migrant workers are much lower than New Zealand counterparts, and few have union access.

Mely Feria is a community advocate through Filipino organisation Migrante and Unemig – FIRST Unions new migrant wing. For the past year she has been assisting Filipino construction workers with their cases of exploitation.

Mely said it is not straight forward, getting people to come forward with their concerns. “Getting them to stand and file a complaint takes a bit of a long term convincing. They feel that if they get exposed they will be sent home by immigration. So we still have to do a lot of convincing, and assuring them that they’ll be taken care of once they file their complaint.”

Once Mely has ascertained that a worker has a case she works together with the union, FIRST Union and also Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU) to resolve it.

She says many of the cases start with accommodation problems. “I went to one house because the foreman had contacted the EPMU about the living condition of these workers, and they asked me to come along to translate. There were 6 bedrooms and 3 or 4 Filipino’s in each room. Each one was being charged $150, that’s almost $2,000 plus a week.”

Mely says there is a perception among some employers

that new migrant workers will not complain when their rights are breached, which leads to exploitation.

Because of the quick rise in construction work, a lot of people who had no or little business background or understanding have created companies.

“These inexperienced new business owners will employ new migrant workers then realise they don’t have sustainable income and cannot pay the workers salaries. They tell workers ‘there is no work this month’, or this ‘week’, so these people are not earning money.”

EPMU organiser Paul Johnston said he was aware of cases where employers would ‘bank’ employees hours. “They only pay them 50 hours a week if they work 60. The 10 hours goes into a bank, and they pay them that if they’re off sick, or it rains.”

Many of those who come from the Philippines are given false hope by the recruiting consultants as to what was available for them in Christchurch.

“They are told by recruiters they will get residency, $25 an hour jobs etc in order to entice them over. People are also misinformed about immigration processes. Then they arrive and people calling themselves consultants ask the new migrant for thousands of dollars to find them a job ,” said Mely.

In one case Mely was involved with a group of workers were brought over to New Zealand only to find the company liquidated after just four days of work. She says this is increasingly a problem.

“These people had not been here long and had no money,” said Mely . “They had no food, so the community

rallied to support them. People would come to the house and give them fish or crabs for dinner. So they survived from donations from outside, and it was a very heart-warming situation, they were even crying.”

“We were all surprised, we had no idea,” said one of the affected workers, “it was a problem to my family back home who are relying on me for money.”

FIRST Unions Southern regional secretary Paul Watson talked of a similar instance in a labour hire company that was engaging with fairly high level skilled workers from the Philippines. The woman who was working in the office facilitating everything, got fed up because the workers weren’t getting paid. “They’d had 6 weeks arrears of wages, they just weren’t getting paid. So she took a stand with the boss and said I’m not going to get any more migrants over here if this is the way you’re going to treat people,” said Paul. The workers sought for recovery of the lost wages. The company liquidated. Paul said he was sure this employer would show up again somewhere else under a different name, due to legislative loopholes that allow this to happen.

There is also a problem of the language barrier.Various documents and websites intended to provide

information for Filipino workers on rights and immigration are often in English or sometimes even poorly translated Filipino.

In one instance, a man was fired because he misunderstood what a broom was when his employer asked him to find a broom. “The employer said, “you’re stupid, get out!” said Mely. “The man had no information regarding his rights so he was forced to look for another job.”

Christchurch rebuild migrant workers

Combatting migrantFollowing the devastating quakes of September 2010 and February 2011 a considerablesignificant factors, there was not enough skill base or the numbers amongst New Zealand workers, especially from the Philippines. There are estimated to now be between 2500

Page 11www.FIRSTunion.org.nz FEATURE ARTICLES

Disaster capitalism in Christchurch

The Christchurch earthquakes were tragic and unavoidable events that will forever scar the national conscience. However, as FIRST Union organisers Edward Miller and Dennis Maga argue in a soon-to-be-published book chapter, the policies subsequently implemented by the government constitute an extreme form of social engineering called ‘disaster capitalism’.

In Naomi Klein’s 2007 book The Shock Doctrine she argues that moments of severe collective trauma such as coups d’état or natural disasters are seized upon by radical right wing political and economic elites to implement their unpopular neoliberal agendas. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, for example, think-tanks institutes convened to discuss right wing recovery strategies, and those approaches implemented included charter schools, environmental deregulation and low cost subcontracting to migrant workers.

Following the quakes, right wing policymakers have similar seized upon this moment of trauma to implement unpopular political agendas. Days after the quake the government passed its recovery legislation under extreme urgency, granting Minister Gerry Brownlee almost unfettered power to change all but 5 pieces of NZ law with minimal constraints.

After the second quake politicians, business representatives and journalists began calling for the privatisation of Council assets. Unpopular rezoning decisions were taken with little to no consultation. The government broke its promise to hold elections for the governing body of Environment Canterbury to allocate water rights for the growing corporate agricultural frontier. The government also began to make moves towards opening charter schools on the ruins of schools destroyed in the quake.

The massive demand for construction workers for the Rebuild has also meant the need for significant labour migration. The drive to reduce costs has meant a fast-growing number of Filipino migrants fuelling a profitable construction boom, that are much cheaper than training up unemployed New Zealand workers and, due to the vulnerable immigration status, reluctant to complain or organise about poor employment conditions. Exploitation has been growing apace.

There are various ways FIRST Union and the EPMU are seeking to support and organise new migrant workers in Christchurch.

• When a new migrant worker signs up to the EPMU a portion of this fee goes to FIRST Union’s migrant network Unemig which enables people like Mely to continue the work they do and also provides membership to both organisations for those workers.

• The unions have also been lobbying to establish an Employment Charter which Christchurch employers would have to sign up to when they employ new migrants. The Charter would covers issues around health and safety, employment conditions, training, pastoral care, accommodation, robust business practices, robust employment relations (including worker and union rights) and a commitment to workplace diversity.

• A signfiant number of companies in Christchurch have already signed up to a health and safety charter that commits employers to engagement in the workplace, health and safety committess, being involved in hazard analysis, being involved in accident investigations, and being prepared to speak up around health and safety. Unions play an active role in the implementation of this charter.

However, Mely believes the key to improving the current situation is informing new migrants of their rights, and that this person or organisation needs to be from the Filipino community.

FIRST Union’s Southern region Secretary Paul Watson agrees. “If you don’t have someone that’s aware of the communication style, the language and the culture, you’re going to be up against it,” he said.

Paul and Mely have been seeking access to a list of names of new migrant workers in Christchurch to commence this education process. Mely believes its groups like Migrante and Unemig who are best equipped to do this.

“Other groups who carry out this type of work tend to leave out the union aspect however the biggest problems new migrants come across will be employment related, “ said Mely. “We (Migrante/Unemig) have the systems and the standard education that we can give to these people, that they will be not just informed but empowered as workers in a foreign land.”

Some of the workers previously victimised have become volunteers alongside Mely, helping out fellow new migrants.

“Some employers think ‘new migrants won’t complain because they don’t know the New Zealand law, they don’t know anybody, so nobody’s going to help them, we can do anything with these people’. But when they learn that there is a community of support for these workers, then things start to change.”

Mely Feria , community advocate

abuse in Christchurchamount of rebuilding needed to happen and fast. Due to a lack of training and other workers in Christchurch to get the job done. This meant a massive influx of skilled migrant and 3000 Filipino construction workers in Christchurch.

Page 12 OPINION Union Express November 2014

0800 TO FIRST (0800 863 477)

Tourist Flats & Chalets $80 for 1 night, per family

Cabins: $65 for 1 night, per family

Power & Tent Sites $15 for 1 night, per family

Daily Rate:

Tourist Flats & Chalets

Extended Stays

$320 Family to stay 5 nights & pay for 4 nights

$260 Family to stay 5 nights & pay for 4 nights

$60 Family to stay 5 nights & pay for 4 nights

$400 Family to stay 7 nights & pay for 5 nights

$325 Family to stay 7 nights & pay for 5 nights

$75 Family to stay 7 nights & pay for 5 nights

Cabins:

Power & Tent Sites

Ngongotaha Wood Trust,Affordable Willowhaven Holiday Park

Affordable Willowhaven is a union affiliated holiday park on lake Rotorua.Rates for all accommodation and Holiday Park charges effective from 1st July 2013

• Power & Tent sites rates for the Union & members are not discounted at the “Daily Rate” as the charge is for a family, not individuals.• To receive the discounted rate for any classification proof of current membership must be produced. The manager may decline the discount without proof of membership.• Chalets, Tourist Flats & Cabins have bedding linen provided. Towels are available on request at $2.00 each

Rates for Union & Members apply to the following;

• FIRST Union • Amalgamated Workers Union• Waterfront Workers Union • Seafarers Union• CFMEU Forest & Furnishing Division, Australia

• Where a union member makes the booking for a family, charge the member the family rate, a family means an adult couple plus their children. If it’s an extended group with additional adults and or children either into that unit or a second unit charge either the unit rate or $15.00/adult & $5.00/child at the Manager’s discretion. [how busy, time of year etc]

• Conference center hire for all users is $175.00 a day, to use the smaller partion area only it is $75.00 a day. Broadband is available in the conference center, white board, overhead projector, microphone and associated equipment. Arrange with the manager for its use. A $50.00 bond is required prior to use which will be refunded after inspection by the Manager at his discretion.

• Radio internet facility available on site.

• Other camp charges: Towel hire at $2.00 each

• Dogs are allowed in the camp if prior contact and approval from the manager has been given, the decision is in his hands whether to allow or not. Dogs or other pets are not permitted in the chalets, tourist flats or cabins at any time and dogs must be on a leash at all times.

• Smoking is not permitted in any of the accommodation or amenities or conference center at any time. This is a requirement of the camp and compliance with appropriate legislation.

You will have heard a lot about the pay of ANZ’s chief David Hisco lately, if you’ve been following our dispute with the bank (see story earlier in Express).

But we thought we’d take a look over a few other CEOs to see whether they’re doing okay, in these tough economic times.

Each year, the Business Herald completes is annual executive pay survey. We had a look at some of the CEOs relevant to sectors of our union.

We’ll start with the banks then.Last year David Hisco received a 14% wage increase,

taking his pay to $4.17 million. That’s $80,000 a week – more than most bank workers earn in a year.

A 6% fall in Westpac chief executive Peter Clare’s salary

must have hit hard. Luckily, he’s still on $3,106,890 a year.BNZ boss Andrew Thorburn also recently made a cool

$400,000 from selling shares in BNZ’s parent National Australia Bank (NAB), which were part of his 2012 incentive package. His total salary is $3.13 million.

Let’s look a little elsewhere.Fletcher Building’s Mark Adamson is on $3,320,446.

That’s not bad.Nuplex Industries Australian chief Emery Severin is on

$1,952,761, converted from Australian dollars. Not bad either.

Finally, then, The Warehouse.Warehouse Group chief executive Mark Powell got a 68

per cent pay rise to $1.96 million.

Any workers at The Warehouse care to write in to Express and tell us if you’ve netted a cool 68 per cent rise?

It’s no wonder Mark Powell told the Herald’s Tamsyn Parker earlier this year that he wasn’t comfortable with it.

“I earn a ridiculous amount of money ... what is the right amount of money? It’s embarrassing how much I earn, but it is what it is.”

“I think all CEOs should be troubled by how much they earn,” he told the Herald.

Ahem. I think you’ll find a few workers will be a little troubled also.

CEO’s salaries sky high

Page 13www.FIRSTunion.org.nz OPINION

Many of the companies we work for are doing better than ever and announcing record profits. CEO salaries and bonuses are reaching record highs.

Meanwhile, the basic cost of living is rising as our wages stay stagnant. For too many of us, covering the cost of basics like petrol, groceries and energy bills is a week-to-week struggle.

It’s a wonder that the rewards of those record profits are not reflected downstream, through a living wage or decent pay increases for workers living cheque to cheque.

Since the 1990s a National Government has never had an unemployment rate below 6%, except for a quarter after they took over from a Labour Government.

Maintaining high unemployment is a deliberate strategy of the right-wing. High unemployment works to discipline those “lucky enough” to have jobs. It means employers are entitled to pay poverty wages, and de-unionised workers become disposable.

Unemployment works for the rich, not those shut out of the job market. Despite the noise about how much beneficiaries cost the taxpayer, it’s important we remember that the unemployed do not create unemployment.

So many of us are being underpaid and overworked because employers can get away with it. When Government fails to create real jobs, and when the wages just aren’t keeping up, it’s easy to scapegoat those at the very bottom.

Workers and the unemployed are both being exploited by an economic system which is benefiting the richest New Zealanders immensely, and pushing those at the bottom deeper into poverty.

By standing united against both employers keen to pay poverty wages and a government intent on demonising the poor, we can mobilise together to make sure we all have enough to participate fully in society.

Why are so many of us being paid poverty wages?Opinion piece by Nadia Abu-Shanab from Auckland Action Against Poverty

“Those people who are opposed to the agreement want access to the texts so they can blow it apart,”

– Tim Groser, Minister of Trade

let foreign investors challenge our lawsmake medicines more expensivestop stricter GMO labellingoverride Te Tiriti o Waitangipush more Kiwi jobs overseasundercut moves to protect our environmentprevent new limits on mining, drilling and frackingfuel financial criseslock in asset salesstop ‘buy kiwi made’ policiesreduce internet freedomand much, much more

When: November 8Where: Across Aotearoa/New Zealand

The New Zealand government is currently negotiating an agreement in secret that would:

Defend New Zealand from corporate control – march against the TPPA.

International Day of Actionwww.itsourfuture.org.nz

Nadia Abu-Shanab from AAAP

Page 14 PERSPECTIVES Union Express November 2014

What are your plans for the summer?

Enough politics! We asked some of our delegates at training in Auckland what they would up be up to this summer. It

looks like some good times are coming….

Michael Aicken PAK’nSAVE

Join up with a bunch of mates, we are road tripping up to Taupo for a big event, Powercruise. It’s a big car show.

Levi MurrayAmericold

I am going up to Waitangi and I am going to be rowing my Maori iwi waka on Waitangi day. Training begins in 2 weeks time, so I’ll be up there doing my rowing.

Dylan Gee Warehouse

I’m going to head down to Kaiwi Lakes, and go explore the natural wilderness there.

Jyothi Chander This is my first summer with my twin babies, so we are planning to go to Paihia, and maybe go on a cruise. Hopefully we will go swimming with the dolphins.

Tupu Sagatea Timberlab Solutions

It’s my missus that’s got all the fun these holidays! I’ll be staying home.

Hannah ChambersCooperative Bank

I’m going to be spending it in Rarotonga with my family.

Kasalina Koloifu Cotton On Distribution

I will be going back to Tonga and seeing my mum and enjoy time with the family.

FIRST Union’s biennial conference in October, themed “organising to win in a hostile environment” had delegates hearing about organising successes and challenges in our union and presentations from anti-poverty campaigners, health and safety experts, international guests and a panel reviewing the 2014 election.

Former Council of Trade Unions president Ross Wilson, now deputy chair of the new WorksafeNZ government department, said that the new health and safety legislation was stronger, but it needed to be backed up by unions getting more active on the issue.

“International evidence shows that union workplaces are safer workplaces. But this is a challenge when so many of our industries have low or no union presence.”

Denise Campbell-Burns, the Pulp and Paper division president of CFMEU Australia briefed delegates about their Stand Up, Speak Out, Come Home campaign to improve safety, and spoke about their campaign to get their federal and state governments to buy Australian-made products in all their procurement, including paper and tissue, to support Australian jobs.

“We’ve lost half of our pulp and paper jobs in the past 10 years,” she said.

Community and anti-poverty activist Alan Johnson said: “We can’t allow ourselves to accept the wedge between the working poor and the welfare poor. Most of us are could be just another paycheck away from a dole payment ourselves.”

Alan is also deputy chair of Counties Manukau Rugby League, and said how sports, community and faith groups can be the engine of social change.

“I love that the byline of our sport is ‘More than just a game’. Rugby league is not just thinking about the desire of our members to kick a football around. Its working on the issues we are facing such as youth suicide and violence.

FIRST Union organisers Tali Williams and Jared Abbott spoke on union campaigns against insecure hours and Bill Bradford spoke on the successful Pak’nSave organising campaign. He also discussed the establishment of an organising school in the union early next year.

The Runanga, Women’s and Fono sectors gave reports and life membership certificates were awarded to Barry Donaldson, Bob Anderson, Dennis Dawson, Syd Keepa and Neal Allport, with Jenny Vincent to be presented her certificate later this year in Christchurch.

Organising in a hostile environment Bienniel Conference 2014

Denise Campbell-Burns, CFMEU Australia

Delegates at the Bienniel Conference

Page 15www.FIRSTunion.org.nz FUN PAGE

Countdown Gore’s produce manager Desi Mercer had no plans to get back into darts.

She’d retired from the game 8 years ago, but then a friend convinced Desi to join her at a regional tournament. One thing led to another, and in August she was boarding a plane to represent New Zealand against Australia.

“I played years ago, but I gave it up. A friend asked me to come and play with her at a tournament in Christchurch, and I was heading up there anyway so I said yes,” Desi explains.

“We won that and then my friend said I couldn’t quit now, so we played 5 more tournaments and got in the finals for each.”

Then in May Desi played at the New Zealand champs, and was selected to represent New Zealand in a Trans-Tasman tournament. She was one of 11 people vying for the 4th women’s spot on the team.

And the trip was a success. New Zealand beat Australia for the FIRST time since 2007, and the women’s team recorded the biggest win they’d ever had over Australia.

Desi secured some sponsorship to help pay for the trip, and was well supported by her mates at work.

“They were pretty excited. Everyone’s been really great and always supported the fundraising raffles,” she said.

She said the trip was good and it was great to make friends with the other players, but she didn’t think much of Sydney.

“I hated Sydney. It’s colder than here mate, and I live in Gore. It wasn’t until the day we were leaving that the sun came out.”

Sydney darts trip was nice but it’s colder than Gore!

Countdown Gore’s produce manager Desi Mercer

The caption competition winner is:

Glen Buckley

who works at:

Frucor

Each row contains the number 1 to

9, each column must contain the

numbers 1 to 9 and each set of 3 x 3

boxes must contain the numbers

1to 9.

solution at:http://www.sudokutoday.com/

medium-sudoku-puzzle-i295-

answers.html

solution at:http://www.sudokutoday.com/

difficult-sudoku-puzzle-i295-

answers.html

GIFT VOUCHER CAPTION COMPETITION

LAST ISSUES WINNING CAPTION COMPETITION

SMO|KO|DU SUDOKU (MEDIUM)

SMO|KO|DU SUDOKU (DIFFICULT)

Send your photo captions to: email Tali.Williams@firstunion.org.nz or post to Private Bag 92904, Auckland. The winner receives two gift vouchers.

What!?! You and whose army

Page 16 NOTES/SERVICES Union Express November 2014

ForeignExchange

First Union has partnered with Member Advantage to provide our 27,000 members with a new range of quality benefits - designed to make your life a little easier and a lot more

enjoyable.

These services are available to use at any time and can be accessed by phone or via the First Union Member Advantage website. For further information, visit:

memberadvantage.co.nz/firstunion

MagazineSubscriptions

Health &Wellbeing

Airline LoungeMemberships

Banking &Superannuation

Gifts &Experiences

CarRental

Accommodation& Tours

Take advantage of savings on a wider range of quality benefits.

For more information, contact Member Advantage on 0800 453 244 or info@memberadvantage.co.nz

FIRST Union has a new meeting space in our Auckland office. The meeting space, which was funded by the Northern Drivers Charitable Trust, allows a

base for delegate trainings, member meetings and even a place for unions to come together. FIRST Union General secretary Robert Reid says the new space shows a vision for an

organised future. “We know that we have to work every day for our members, and in working for them we need to have the facilities that where they can meet and train, and use that as the basis for growing the union and ultimately workers power,” he said.

New member facilities at the Auckland FIRST

union office

Officials and delegates enjoying the new meeting space

Do you want to change the world?

FIRST Union is running an Organising School from the second week of February 2015.

The school is open to people wanting to learn union and community organising skills. This includes union delegates or community activists from outside the union.

The course will teach a mix of organising theory, employment law and union history along with supervised practical work such as recruiting new members, bargaining collective agreements, holding meetings, handling investigation / disciplinary meetings and organising industrial and community action.

The practical nature of this course means it will require some travel and some trainee organising projects will take place outside “office hours”.

If you are dedicated to protecting and extending the rights of workers, would like to learn more about how to challenge the causes of poverty and inequality and think you could become a union or community organiser then contact FIRST Union to find out more.

The intake for the 2015 school will be 4-5 people. Participants in the school will be paid for 30 hours per week on at least the living wage hourly rate. The course will last for around 12 weeks. There is no guarantee of any employment with FIRST Union after the school, but organising school graduates will be well placed to apply for organising jobs in FIRST, other unions or community organisations.

Applications close on Friday 5 December and candidates will be selected before Christmas.

For further information please contact:Bill Bradford, Course coordinatorbill.bradford@firstunion.org.nzPhone: (021) 856 074