Bus drivers and hospo and supermarket workers ready to lodge Fair Pay claims

Wednesday, 30 November 2022

Nelson supermarket worker Nerissa Harding says she signed up for a Fair Pay Agreement so her “future children” wouldn’t have to fight for fairness.

Unions say they have the signatures they need to demand Fair Pay Agreements for hospitality workers, supermarket workers and bus drivers.

The three groups are set to be the first cabs off the rank when the Fair Pay Bill takes effect on Thursday, allowing unions to seek negotiations on minimum pay and conditions that would apply to all employers in each industry.

Council of Trade Unions president Richard Wagstaff said Thursday would be a “historic moment for working people”.

“Fair Pay Agreements represent a new beginning for working people and the restoration of their rights” and would help lift conditions for workers across entire industries, he said.

Not all employers are opposed to Fair Pay Agreements. (First published 17/11/22)

* BusinessNZ to represent employers in FPA negotiations 'on case by case basis'

* How much are wages really going up?

BusinessNZ announced earlier this month that it would consider stepping into the role of being the employers’ representative in such negotiations on a “case by case basis”.

Fair Pay Agreements are designed to establish minimum pay and conditions for workers in different industries but not necessarily to supplant individual pay negotiations or traditional collective bargaining between workers and individual employers.

Council of Trade Unions president Richard Wagstaff says Fair Pay Agreements are a new beginning.

At a minimum, they will need to set out minimum pay, overtime and penalty rates, leave entitlements, and access to training and development opportunities for the workers they cover.

Workplace Relations Minister Michael Wood and National Party MP Scott Simpson clash over the Fair Pay Bill.

The minimum entitlements that are related to pay will only be allowed to vary depending on where in the country people work and what their job and seniority level is.

Nerissa Harding, 25, a Countdown worker in Richmond, Nelson, is one of those who has signed up for a Fair Pay Agreement.

Harding noted Countdown had just agreed a collective agreement which was “amazing” and had taken her pay to $24 an hour.

But she said if she was living alone she would not be able to survive.

“I work 35 hours a week and almost 80% of my pay goes on rent.”

She hoped a Fair Pay Agreement could lead to higher pay but said she added her name to the demand for an industry-wide deal for her “future children”.

“I don’t want them to have to fight for fairness,” she said.

Alan McDonald, head of strategy at the Employers and Manufacturers Association, which is part of the BusinessNZ network, reiterated that it would “do what we can to assist members”.

The EMA had major concerns with the way the Fair Pay law had been drafted, he said.

“One of the things that anyone who does anything in the bargaining space will tell you, is you have to be very precise with what you are defining.”

But the legislation did not define low pay or unsocial hours and it was not clear, for example, what types of businesses might be covered by a supermarket agreement, he said.

“Most people will tell you it is Countdown and Foodstuffs, but The Warehouse is in groceries. Little corner stores, superettes call themselves supermarkets as well.”

It was not clear if they would be covered by an agreement or how smaller businesses would get a voice at the table, he said.