'Underpaid' Pak 'n Save Richmond workers to go on strike

Friday, 2 October 2020

Richmond Pak ‘n Save workers plan to go on strike in Nelson after five years of “fruitless” pay negotiations.

Pak ‘n Save stores are individually owned as franchises under the Foodstuffs co-operative, and First Union says while many North Island stores had negotiated collective agreements for workers, the South Island operation had been harder to deal with.

First Union retail organiser Ross Lampert said five years of negotiations for a collective agreement was “an absurd amount of time to be underpaid”.

“At a time when supermarkets are making huge profits, it’s really shameful that the Richmond Pak ’n Save owners are continuing to fight against progress and trying to stall and delay bargaining at their employees’ expense,” Lampert said.

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Butcher Jenny Wells and others hand out flyers alerting the public that workers from Pak ‘n Save supermarket, Richmond are striking after failing to negotiate a Collective Agreement or a living wage.

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A number of workers at Pak 'n Save Richmond struggle to make ends meet, say union delegates.

“These are essential workers who will no doubt be called on again if the country returns to lockdown, and they deserve a real agreement that will protect them and ensure that they’re paid fairly when New Zealand needs them more than ever.”

“As it stands, the company’s most recent offer manages to come in below many workers’ current pay rates, most of which are already below a living wage.”

The current minimum wage was $18.90 per hour, while the voluntary living wage rate $22.10 per hour.

Pak ‘n Save worker Jenny Wells has been working at the Richmond store for 17 years.

Wells said a living wage would make a significant difference to her life.

“It’s nice hearing how valued you are as an essential worker lately, but we’ve not seen anything to back that sentiment up from Foodstuffs in the South Island yet,” Wells said.

“It has been incredibly frustrating to wait so long but I and my colleagues are confident that the public support us and we deserve a fair deal.”

First Union also has a collective agreement with Countdown, where staff with a year’s service will be paid at least $21.15 by the end of September.

But it has not been able to broker agreements with any of the Foodstuffs South Island stores, which include New World, Raeward Fresh and Four Square.

This year, South Island Foodstuffs reported a revenue of more than $3 billion, with operating profit of more than $88 million.

Pak ‘n Save Richmond owner Andrew Howard said mediation was scheduled and one employee participated in the strike.

“We are engaged in good faith bargaining with First Union and have met with them with the goal to conclude a collective agreement,” Howard said.

“An offer has been made to the union in August 2020 and the union bargaining representatives have advised the offer has been put to the members.

“As we have stated previously, we continue to be respectful of the process which we don’t believe should be done via the media and, as such, it is inappropriate to provide any further detail.”