Coronavirus: Fletcher employees feel 'stabbed in the back' by pay cuts

Wednesday, 8 April 2020

It's been a tough few months for Fletcher Building.

Fletcher Building workers feel 'betrayed' by one of New Zealand's biggest employers for having to take big pay cuts due to the financial impacts of coronavirus.

Fletcher Building said 95 per cent of its 9000 workforce had accepted a pay proposal where their salaries would be slashed by up to 70 per cent in the weeks following the Covid-19 lockdown, while senior staff raised their pay cuts from 15 per cent to 30 per cent.

Dave Asher who works for Winstone Wallboards, a company owned by Fletcher Building, said he felt betrayed by executives giving a day's notice to accept the proposal.

'After working there for 25 years I just feel unappreciated. We can probably weather the next week or next month, but it's hard to say after that when our salaries could cut by 70 per cent,' Asher said.

**READ MORE:

Fletcher Building says 8600 of its 9000 workers have taken up its reduced pay proposal.

* Fletcher Building says it hasn't misled workers over wage subsidy

* Fletcher Building executives double pay cuts to 30%

*** Fletcher Building staff say they feel pressured by short consultation timeframe

'I feel for the families who live pay check to pay check. How are they going to handle this? For the younger ones, it's going to be a tough ask.'

Asher said he felt as though he had been 'stabbed in the back' by his employer.

Starting this week, non-working staff would receive 65 per cent of their salaries until April 22.

After the four-week lockdown their salaries would be slashed by 50 per cent for the next month and by 70 per cent the following month.

E tū negotiator Joe Gallagher said he was 'deeply concerned' by Fletcher's behaviour.

'We believe their proposal to date has been nothing short of unlawful, and our members desperately need the company to rethink it. We'll be reporting the company's behaviour to MBIE (Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment), as well as continuing to talk to the Government.

'We are pleased that Fletchers are applying for the wage subsidy, but they need to come to the party with a meaningful contribution of their own in these unprecedented times.'

According to the Covid-19 wage subsidy scheme register, Fletcher Building company Mico has been granted $65,918.40 for its 13 staff.

Fletcher Building reported a profit after-tax of $164 million last year.

Originally, senior staff including Fletcher Building chief executive Ross Taylor were to take a 15 per cent cut, but that was increased to a 30 per cent cut after staff said they were bearing the brunt of the financial impacts of Covid-19.

Taylor said on Monday that of its 9000 staff, 8600 had taken up the pay proposal. He also said the company's employee welfare fund had 'greater capacity to support financial hardship' for those who 'need it the most'.

On Tuesday Fletcher Building said it had not misled workers into signing away their rights in order to receive the Government's wage subsidy, which aims to keep people employed during the coronavirus lockdown.

Fletcher Building said in a statement that the consultation process had been 'compressed', but staff were fully informed of the details of the pay programme.

'We laid out a 12-week programme in line with the Government wage subsidy to provide our people certainty to allow them to plan ahead.

'As we work through the lockdown period and restart process, as we are able to bring our people safely back to work, they will return to their normal hours and pay even if it is within the 12 week period.'

Options for the 5 per cent of workers who had not agreed to the pay programme include being paid the Government subsidy for the period, or using annual leave or long service leave.

'If redundancy is a preference for anyone in this group, then that is an option we are open to discussing and it would be paid on their contracted entitlements.'

Fletcher Building said the employee welfare fund was a private trust, independent of Fletcher Building, and grants were at the discretion of trustees to help workers and their families in cases of serious medical event or financial hardship.

'Fletcher Building has put additional funds into the Fletcher Building Employee Welfare Fund for support to be provided to those of our people who need it.

'No Government subsidy money is going into the [fund].'