M&C Workers News

ISSN 0113-9339 Number 108 June 2016

M&C Workers News JOURNAL OF THE MANUFACTURING & CONSTRUCTION WORKERS UNION

Union campaign: No driving our buses backwards! When the winning tender for south Auckland public passenger buses was announced earlier this year it became clear that the Government’s new law for tendering the work (PTOM) is a rerun of the 1990s - slash wages and working conditions. The tender was won by Go Bus and Ritchies. Go Bus in particular pays the lowest wage rates to passenger bus drivers in New Zealand. The companies that lost the south Auckland work pay $21 per hour plus. Go Bus pays as little as $16.90. Drivers wages are about half the cost of operating a public passenger bus service. It is easy to see where the $3.1 million per year reduction in costs from the winning south Auckland tenderers will come from. The Wellington Regional Council is due to collect tenders for the region’s bus services. All indica- tions are they are set to copy south Auckland and award the work to the company that pays the lowest wages and gives the lowest bid. The Tramways Union has embarked on a campaign to oppose the WRC “Driving our buses Jobs at NZ Bus in south Auckland, like the bus, are backwards” (see pages 8 & 9) going west. Also in this issue... Health & safety... page 10 From the Workfront... pages Court orders Envirowaste to pay a penalty for a 2 & 3 contractor worker’s death Viridian takes Furniture Union member to International news... pages Court 14 - 15 Collective agreement Who owns New Zealand businesses and how they operate were highlighted by the “Panama Pa- negotiations... pages 4 - 7 pers”. Ratification votes are taking place in New Zealand Post. The unions advocates outline a Good behaviour punished at plan to stop clawbacks which again are a major feature of the terms of settlement. NZ Post... page 16 PAGE 2 M&C WORKERS NEWS

Redundancy payments at Acma disputed Acma made eight members of understanding of the situation was with the Acma collective, which the M&C Union redundant in correct. provided that the employer had a case that makes us look at to pay all outstanding amounts 1 how redundancy compensa- PROGRESSIVE OR working day after termination of tion is paid. LUMP SUM employment. However, it is not It is unfortunate when an employ- The company had assumed that clear whether this included redun- er makes employees redundant. it was able to pay the redundancy dancy compensation. Therefore Nobody likes to hear that their job payments in installments equiv- the union and Acma would have is surplus to requirements. While alent to one week’s ordinary pay. almost certainly gone to court to there may be situations where it In contrast, the members had as- have the issue decided. While the can be contested, some situations sumed that they would receive union could have won, it would are obvious and the question be- their compensation within one have been a half victory at best. comes what if any compensation working day along with the usual IMPOSSIBLE ACTION redundant employees will receive. outstanding holiday pay and annu- Even if the Employment Rela- al leave entitlements. So who was tions Authority had said that Acma BUSINESS CHANGE correct? The first point of call is should pay the redundancy com- Acma was obviously one of the lat- the employment agreement. pensation as a lump sum, it nev- ter situations. It had been clear for In New Zealand, there is generally er will ask an employer to do the months that the way the company no automatic right to redundan- impossible. If it does not keep the carried on business was going to cy compensation. Therefore, the cash on hand it will be allowed to change and that consequently it employment agreement needs to pay compensation in instalments. would have to disestablish several contain an employee’s rights in a Unfortunately the best that em- people’s roles. The company did redundancy situation. It should for ployees can hope for in these sit- try its best to avoid the situation example contain both how the em- uations is that an employer sticks by prolonging their employment. ployer calculates the compensation with the proposed payment sched- However, it appears during this and how it has to pay it. However, ule and that they correctly tax the time nobody was considering how despite it being best practice to do compensation. the redundant employees were so, many employment agreements The union reached an agreement going to receive their redundancy do not prescribe how compensa- with Acma in mediation about the compensation. Both the company tion is going to be paid. payment of redundancy compen- and the members assumed their Arguably, that was not the case sation. M&C WORKERS NEWS PAGE 3 From the work front... Viridian Glass claims breaches of mediated setttlement Viridian Glass objecting to an article that appeared in the last M&C News and has responded by going after a former Furniture Union member. It is not often that an employer takes an employee to court but that is exactly what might happen as Viridian Glass has filed a statement of problem in the Employ- ment Relations Authority (ERA) against former Furniture Union member Wayne Brassington. Viridian Glass is taking a former Furniture Union member to Court in a mis- PREVIOUS M&C guided attempt to stop the union talking to its members about work issues. NEWS ARTICLE the mediator. Nobody else could members. Therefore, it is under a M&C News ran an article in its have read the article and known duty to report to them on what it last issue suggesting the Wayne with any degree of certainty what and its affiliate unions are doing had settled his dispute with Vir- the parties discussed at mediation to support members. At the same idian Glass regarding his dismiss- and what solution they came to. time, the Union also has a duty to al. In the article, the M&C Union educate its members so they are took the view that Viridian Glass’ PROHIBITING THE fully aware of their rights in order actions were a clear example of UNION TALKING to protect themselves. The M&C how not to handle a complaint of Viridian is certainly not the first News articles about disputes with bullying. employer to take exception to an employers are about fulfilling The information for this article M&C news article. In the past, these two duties. came from the statement of prob- many employers and their man- lem that the Furniture Union filed agement have tried to take the MISPLACED ANGER in the ERA in January 2016. The Union to court over the contents of However, it may be a good time M&C Union and a number of oth- articles. Mostly these cases have to stop and consider something. er unions were privy to the details been employers concerned about Viridian Glass is not taking the of this dispute. damage to their reputations. In one Union to court. Instead, it is taking As the dispute was resolved at case for example, a person claimed a former member of the Furniture mediation before the publication the union defamed him. The Union to court. The logic of tak- of the last issue of M&C News Union won because among other ing somebody to court when you the Union amended the article to things the M&C news is protected have a problem with someone else merely reflect the fact the matter by qualified privilege. This means is questionable. It is likely Virid- was resolved at mediation. This the Union can use M&C news to ian believes Wayne controls the is common because mediation is relay statements that it reasonably actions of the Union. While plain- confidential. The solution to the believes to be true to members on ly untrue, it leaves open the possi- issue and the matters discussed are matters of legitimate interest even bility that this issue will continue unknown to anybody except the if those statements are defamato- even if Viridian resolves its issue parties, their representatives, and ry. The Union is accountable to its with Wayne. PAGE 4 M & C WORKERS NEWS Collective agreement negotiations... Progress made in protecting conditions The Wellington region col- vision in CEA bargaining. This en- gotiate to retain their wages and lective agreements covering ables another employer to become conditions with the new company. bus drivers and mainte- a party to the NZ Bus collective If the new company already had agreements. This provision was a collective agreement negotiated nance staff employed by NZ finally accepted by the companies. with another union, even though it Bus were ratified by union had no employees doing the work, members at a stop work TIMING PRESSURE new employees did not have to be meeting held on 19 April. TO JOIN covered by that collective if they Bargaining took 5 days and The effect of the term and the sub- did not join the union that negoti- achieved a common wage increase sequent parties provision is that ated it. for the three employers, Go Wel- the agreements will expire before NZ Bus is committed by the new lington, Valley Flyer and Runci- any new bus companies start up CEA to approaching any new em- mans. taking over work they have won ployer to try and get agreement for The term of the three agreements off NZ Bus. The next negotiations any of its redundant employees to is 21 months. The wage increase is will be able to be timed so as to transfer their employment to the 1.8% for the first 12 months, and put maximum pressure on any new new company. 1.35% for the last 9 months. companies to sign up to the NZ Bus collectives. FLAT RATE ILLEGAL SUBSEQUENT The ratification meeting was told PREFERENCE PARTIES that anyone who was made re- The new agreement also saw the Since 2005 the unions have been dundant by NZ Bus could remain inclusion of a flat rate option for seeking a subsequent parties pro- a union member and seek to ne- the workshop. That option is effectively 1.5% more than the rates and conditions applying with pe- nal rates for working overtime. The management of the workshop encouraged 4 workers out of the union during the term of the last agreement with a flat rate that gave them 7% more than the rates then in the CEA. To get this rate they 4 had to agree to work on any 7 days a week and at any time, a provision which does not exist in the CEA. The CEA now imposes a restric- tion on the company working any- Wellington trolley bus: At the end of April NZ Bus announced it was go- one not in the union at times that ing to convert its trolley fleet to being electric powered buses. Once this will reduce the earnings of those happens the new electric buses will require ongoing maintenance. In covered by the collective. The 7% the CEA negotiations the company sought to remove the union’s right flat rate is an illegal preference for to stop contracting work out. Trollies are contracted out. The company the now two workers not in the failed to get this change agreed so maintenance on the new electric union. The union will follow this vehicles should be done in house. The union will seek to give diesel matter through to the Employment mechanics to right to increase their skills to electrical maintenance as Court if necessary. an alternative to redundancy. M & C WORKERS NEWS PAGE 5 Moves to combined CEA Collective continue agreement Members at Axiam Plastics the employer that the pay system and Axiam Metals ratified should recognise both skill and briefs... their separate agreements service. The matter of what a final Negotiations with NZ Van proposal will look like and or rec- Lines conducted jointly with settling on an increase of ognise is yet to be discussed and 1.5%. the First Union were started negotiated. Any new pay system in April last year. When the As previously reported over the going into the CA will be part of years Axiam has downsized in company’s owners changed any proposed terms of settlement there was a break and talks response to the economic climate at the next bargaining in 2017. and has merged three separate resumed in January. The businesses into two. Prior to this, negotiations have now been 12 HOUR SHIFTS referred to mediation as the merger discussions occurred about As a result of how Metals is company has failed to come the eventual establishment of a charged its power rate based on up with an acceptable offer. single business that incorporated peak use cost times as well as all three original entities. the continual rise of the cost, the Unions were advised that Metals ENZA MIRROR CEASE would be looking at 12 hour shifts Bargaining for a new CEA In line with a future merger, and for the die casting dept. in an effort took the first quarter of 2016. the parties working towards hav- to significantly reduce those costs. A roll over was ratified by ing mirror CAs at both plants over The details for any proposed shift members. Bargaining re- the last several years, members put patterns are yet to be advised, dis- sumes in September. forward a claim for the establish- cussed and or negotiated. The ment of a skill based pay system introduction of any new shift pat- sick leave, which changed when at Metals that would also be able terns or hours of work will require sick leave increased to 7 days per to incorporate the roles at Plastics. the members affected to ratify the year at the last negotiations. Plastics have a skill based system proposal before implementation. The Unions are also in a consulta- whereas Metals do not. The ability to change any sick tion process with the Axiam group The company has agreed to pro- leave in excess of 10 days into for the development of a drug and vide a proposed pay system no annual leave at the request of the alcohol policy. The company has later than six months into the term employee was changed to 14 days indicated a preference for swab of the current CA. The Unions on in recognition of the fact that 10 testing. The Unions have supplied site both agree and have advised days always related to 2 years of a proposed draft D&A Policy. Spotless bargaining continues Spotless maintenance mem- ditions they held via their IEAs for negotiating. bers at Palmerston North while at the same time ensuring While most matters will in the Hospital continue to fight what they negotiated was consis- union’s view be resolved includ- tent with the current conditions of ing a pay rise there are two very for a Collective Agreement. others. significant sticking points. Mem- The Union initiated for bargain- bers are currently paid an on call ing in 2014 and to date a terms of BASE DOCUMENT allowance of $105 a week which in settlement have not been reached. their view is woefully below what Regular bargaining meetings have Most of the last twelve months has been dedicated to establishing a should reasonably be expected. occurred over the period and an Members have claimed $250.00 agreed 12 month gap occurred fol- written CA that both parties agreed contained all the current terms and per week which is an average of lowing agreement on an increase what is paid elsewhere. Members through to 2015. conditions of members and other staff covered by CAs in different are adamant that this rate must be The position of members was to paid if on call is to continue. ensure that they received a CA that Unions. This was recently agreed contained all the terms and con- and that document is now the basis Concluded on page 11 PAGE 6 M & C WORKERS NEWS Clawbacks continue at Post 15 days of bargaining were delivery is a considerable invest- rate for existing employees required with New Zealand ment. Post wanted its employees with new employees to get Post to get an offer on the to help pay for them by cutting $3.01 per hour table to renew the collective various conditions. Post argued • grandparenting paid meal agreement. As “M&C Work- that conditions of employment breaks and the 37.55 hour ers News” goes to print the needed to be reduced in order for week in mail processing, with ratifi cation ballot is nearly it to be able to compete with oth- unpaid meals breaks and 40 concluded. er mail/courier companies such as hours a week to apply to new The company’s focus in the nego- DX and Freightways. employees tiations was to change collective • wages to be paid fortnightly agreements to support its plan to CLAWBACK CLAIMS • postie training rates to be in- combined mail and parcel delivery The clawbacks wanted by the creased to $21 per day for the in residential areas. The decline company to help change the busi- fi rst two weeks and $11 per in mail is partially offset by the ness and compete were major for day for the second two weeks. growth in parcels. Combining the those processing mail. While some Other company claims were suc- two is a profi table way to deliver of the clawbacks were withdrawn cessfully resisted. One such claim both into the future overcoming others are included in the fi nal saw the company try to effectively the subsidy often required for cou- terms of settlement to be voted on remove paid union meetings for riers to deliver in residential areas. by unions members. PWUA delegates. This was ex- The main features of the Terms of pressly payback for the union us- INTEGRATED Settlement were ing the disputes procedures in the DELIVERY AGENT • a one year term collective agreement to deal with This plan required the unions to • a 1.5% increase on wages and issues. Another claim resisted was negotiate a new role called the allowances the removal of the roster make up Integrated Delivery Agent (IDA). • a higher increase on Grades 1 allowance and gold plated allow- The IDA will drive an electric ve- and 2 in the pay scale for Post ance that applies to some pay rates hicle to make their deliveries. The employees, approximately in processing. vehicles are currently being tri- 1.8% on top of the 1.5% alled in New Plymouth. • grandparenting of the 37% ADD Buying a fl eet of new vehicles for hourly rate loading for night The last item conceded by Post during the negotiations was an un- dertaking to deal with the reduction of Postie earnings caused by the change to alternate day delivery. Company analysis confi rmed the union contention that about a third of Posties have been ad- versely impacted by alternate day delivery (ADD). Imperfections in the work measurement system meant that they had to work longer to achieve the money previously earned before ADD. There will be ongoing talks to deal with this is- Electric powered Paxsters will be used to deliver parcels and mail sue. M & C WORKERS NEWS PAGE 7 ADVOCATES URGE PLAN TO COMBAT CUTS The Advocate for the PWUA, strive for the Living Wage by Graeme Clarke, and Joe Gal- making the roster make up al- lagher for E tu, both support- lowance a six year service step. ed ratifying the Post collective “The roster make up allowance agreement offer in spite of the now only applies to employees clawbacks. who have 16 years service. If Since 1996 the two unions had added as a new service step it negotiated separately. This would lift the top of Grade 2 to year agreement was reached to $19.86... 6 cents per hour above negotiate jointly. A combined the living wage,” they said. union approach and strength- The Advocates also urged mem- ening union membership, the bers to support 100% union Advocates argued, was needed membership both in Post and in to stop the continual demands the mail delivery industry. made by Post, and to start im- “If membership increases at proving members wages and the same time as the unions en- conditions. dorsed getting a living wage it In a joint report to ratification would send a clear message to meetings, also conducted on a Post for the next negotiations. joint basis, the Advocates ar- “Many union members will gued that the unions had to know people who work for DX approach the next CEA nego- and related courier companies. tiations in 9 months time with We need to encourage them Advocates Graeme Clarke (top) a realistic plan to stop claw- to join the union so that their and Joe Gallagher from E tu backs and stop the decline terms and conditions are not be- increase for 8 years. We need of conditions that had taken ing used against us in a race to to end this situation or things place over the last 15 years. the bottom. Some DX posties tell will remain the same,” the Ad- They urged that the unions us that they have not had a wage vocates said. Principles of IDA operation established The Integrated Delivery imise the potential for harm. Peak workloads should be sized as close Agent role dominated the workloads are not to be met by the to 37.40 hours of work per week CEA negotiations. use of cut-ups, as at present, but with the steering group having The IDA was a difficult issue be- job and finish still applies. responsibility for how measuring cause except for a limited use of workloads is done. Paxsters in New Plymouth there OOS HAZARDS Any Postie who cant work the is no experience on which to base Issues with the Paxtsters, in par- new rosters or hours will be able terms of an employment agree- ticular OOS hazards that have to apply for redundancy when the ment. been identified, will be worked on. Paxsters are introduced to their Eventually a set of guiding princi- Agreement between the company branch. ples were agreed to. and the unions on safe operating The unions tried to get a higher On the rosters to be used, which procedures is required. wage rate applicable to the IDS the company want to be a 9.25 The implementation of IDA and its role, without success. The way hour day 4 days a week, it was ac- roll out across the country will be the work is paid is to be discussed. cepted the combination of hours overseen by a joint union compa- Initially outside work will be paid and the pattern of days must min- ny steering group. It is agreed that for time, not piece rated. PAGE 8 M & C WORKERS NEWS STOP THE WRC Driving our buses backwards New Zealand Bus owned Go The Wellington Regional Council it seems the WRC is determined Wellington and Valley Fly- (WRC) signaled their intention to to go ahead with its plan to axe er have had an advantage bring new companies into public the trollies. This plan can only put passenger transport in the Wel- pressure on the WRC to accept since tendering for public lington region when it announced tenders based on low wage rates. passenger work was intro- that it would scrap the trolley bus The WRC plan for buses is also duced in the 1990s: Trolly service, instead opting for hybrid mooted to create a less efficient buses. electric/diesel buses if possible, service that will drive the public As a significant part of the service otherwise diesel buses will be back into motor cars. in Wellington was supplied by trol- used. The WRC plan requires the cre- ley buses, and as NZ Bus was the ation of transfer stations. Success- only owner of trollies, NZ Bus had $40 MILLION ful companies will operate only in an advantage in getting the work. INVESTMENT their designated area and bus pas- The WRC has invested $40 mil- sengers wanting to go further than NO COMPETITION lion of ratepayer money into the one area will have to get off at a The only potential competitor al- trolley bus system replacing lines transfer station and get a new bus. ready established and making It is rumoured that to get from Mi- in the region is Wellingtonians use the upgrades. ramar in Wellington’s east to the the Mana New- But in 2017 Basin Reserve near the CBD will lands bus com- bus 101 times per year they want to require two transfers and three pany owned by on average. This is the pull the wires buses. Brian Souter most of any urban area down. NOT INTEGRATED of Stagecoach Replacing There is no integrated ticketing fame. A quarter in Australasia. trollies with system in place to deal with such of this company hybrid or is owned by Infratil which also wholly diesel buses will require a a system. Transfers will not be owns NZ Bus. The two compa- 50% higher subsidy from the WRC seamless. nies have stuck to their traditional than the trolley buses would. When the shape of public trans- geographic areas from 1990 to the The current trolley fleet has at port in the Wellington region that present day. least 10 years of life left in it. But is being proposed by the WRC is weighed up it is found severely Trollies to be converted to electric motors New Zealand bus has announced that its Wellington trolley bus fleet will be converted to become fully electric buses. Starting this year the company will invest $43 million in Wrightspeed motors for the trollies. These motors operate on battery power. While the bus is in use the batter- Ex Labour MP and union official Paul Swain has fronted for the ditching of trollies and support for hybrids. He and the WRC have given no commitment ies are recharged using the energy about securing jobs, wages and conditions in any change of contractor. from braking. M & C WORKERS NEWS PAGE 9 STOP THE WRC Driving our buses backwards wanting. routes are to be phased out ad- The proposed system may rely on versely affecting students who do diesel vehicles. Diesel fumes are not get any fare discount. a well known carcinogen. Diesel The inefficiencies inherent in the fumes are greatly reduced by the WRC plans will lead inevitably to existence of the trolley fleet. cost savings from workers wages Services such as the currently well being needed from successful ten- KEV SAYS utilized direct campus connection derers. The union is waging a PR campaign to try to protect an efficient, safe and reliable Go Bus to discriminate bus service in the Wellington region. against union members We also want to stop the “Go Bus will not have dition was that the workers had tendering process imposed by members of the Tram- to be transferred to the successful politicians from being used tenderer. Kiwi Rail lost out to a to cut wages and working ways Union in the busi- foreign company, Transdev. conditions. ness.” $3.1 million has been taken So said a top ranking manager CUTS SOUGHT out of bus drivers pockets in of Go Bus at a recent employers The transfer on the same wages south Auckland. We want to meeting. His comment was over- and conditions proved to be short stop the same deal here. heard and reported to the union. term with Transdev hiring ex NZ The union’s campaign has Go Bus is owned by the Ngai Tahu Bus HR manager David Gould to an industrial side, as well as and Tinui trusts. It pays the low- negotiate a new agreement seek- PR. est wage rates in the industry. Not ing to reduce conditions of em- Our industrial campaign to wanting to have Tramways Union ployment. retain wages and conditions members in its employ says it aims The WRC has given no guarantees will take place at the time to keep it that way. to the region’s bus drivers that if work transfers from one con- When the Wellington Regional their work goes to a new company tractor to another, in about Council called for tenders to oper- they can follow it and retain wages 18 months time. ate the electric rail network a con- and conditions We issue a fair warning to any company wanting to bid Trollies to be converted to electric motors for work in the Wellington Current battery capability will This announcement has put the region: If your bid is based require an additional motor to re- WRC hybrid plan in doubt. on undercutting the current charge them in use. This motor According to NZ bus the Wright- company wage rates, and you could run on bio-fuel instead of speed technology can also be used secure the work, we will fight diesel. to convert diesel vehicles into to negotiate new agreements electric. that match what we currently RECHARGING STILL The electric buses will be less pol- have. NEEDED luting, quieter and cheaper to op- If you win work here we It is estimated by NZ Bus that the erate than hybrids. It remains to be invite you to become a party motor recharger will be in use no seen whether the higher pay rates to our current employment more that 10% of the time the ve- at NZ Bus eliminate this advan- agreements to secure a com- hicle is in use and, for some routes, tage against the competition for muter and driver friendly it will not be required at all. routes. transition. PAGE 10 M & C WORKERS NEWS Envirowaste pays penalty in death of Junior Hunt Following the tragic death bins and the truck itself. Worksafe investigation was the of 20 year old Junior Hunt Members of the public who were bin lifting mechanism itself. on 3 March 2015, Envi- nearby attempted to help, howev- It was only semi-automatic and it er they were unable to free him. It posed a great risk of crushing the rowaste has to pay $85 000 wasn’t until emergency services operator because it required them to his family and approx- arrived that they were able to free to be in close proximity to both the imately $66 000 in fines in Mr Hunt. However his injuries mechanism and the truck. addition to court costs. were too severe and he died in Workplace safety should be par- hospital the next day. OLD PROBLEM amount for employers; however, WorkSafe chief inspector Keith basic failures by Envirowaste re- MULTIPLE SAFETY Stewart said Envirowaste had sulted in the death of Junior Hunt. FAILURES many opportunities to identify and A Worksafe investigation has A Worksafe investigation was fix risks in its workplace, but did concluded that the company has launched into the accident as is the not do so. breached its obligations under the custom when these types of acci- Envirowaste was involved with Health and Safety in Employment dents occur. the design of the bin lifting mecha- Act. Poor training and design by Although the findings were not re- nism however, it did not adequate- the company were the prime con- leased for over a year it was even- ly consider the advice from others tributors to the accident. tually revealed that Envirowaste including the workers (Mr Hunt’s had multiple health and safety is- father and brother also worked at TRAGIC EVENTS sues that contributed to the acci- Envirowaste) and union members On 3 March 2015, Junior Hunt dent. had complained about the bin lift- who was actually employed by a The first issue identified by the ing mechanism. recruitment agency used by Envi- Worksafe investigation was that Having only one worker for these rowaste was the sole operator of Envirowaste failed to provide Mr trucks had long been a complaint his truck. While doing his round Hunt with proper training on how from both workers and unions. through Upland Terrace, Kelburn to operate the hydraulic arms and However the company had insist- Wellington he was caught between the vehicle in general. ed that the cost-effectiveness out- the hydraulic arms that lift rubbish The second issue identified by the weighed other considerations.

PUNISHMENT In the end Envirowaste pleaded guilty to the charges. chief executive Gary Saunders said they would respect the de- cision and that “Rigor- ous investigations have been undertaken, operational improvements introduced and we have made targeted modifica- tions to the operational design of the trucks.” However, it appears that none of these changes have been made by Emergancy services attend the accident the claimed the life of Junior Hunt. Despite their the time the case was in best efforts he died in hospital the next day. court. M & C WORKERS NEWS PAGE 11 PWUA attempts to advance Union access dispute As the Postal Workers Union of Aotearoa seeks to resolve the issue of being denied access to the Na- pier and Hastings delivery branches in December 2015, NZ Post has become evasive. In the last issue of M&C News a report was carried about the PWU official whom NZ Post denied access to the Napier and Hastings delivery branches. The issue mostly involves NZ Post failing to recognise that it cannot deny access to a workplace because it has an issue with a union official as an John Maynard was denied access to the NZ Post delivery branches in Napier employee. and Hastings. Post employee, access. This was raises questions. John followed the MEDIATION odd because it directly contra- exact same process as the times UNSUCCESSFUL dicted the reason for denying Mr NZ Post denied him access. The As is the process in employment Maynard access, which was his difference this time is merely the disputes, the parties attended medi- supposed absence without leave. pretext for visiting the branches. ation. However, they were unable NZ Post then tried to settle with It again leaves open the possibil- to resolve the issue and now the the non-employee union official. ity that the December and January matter must proceed to an investi- This is quite interesting as it begs denials of access were for reasons gation meeting at the Employment the question of why denying John that it was dissatisfied with John as Relations Authority (ERA). How- was ok. We are left with the only an employee. ever, it appears that NZ Post is in possible answer being that NZ no hurry to resolve this issue. Post believes that a potential em- CASE PROCEEDS TO Despite (or perhaps because of) ployment relationship problem (in ERA NZ Post being a large organisation this case being absent without Eventually this case must be re- it appears lost to it who is respon- leave) is grounds for denying a solved. As it stands, the PWU has sible for the case. The PWU has union official access to a work- offered the ERA some alternative attempted several times to arrange place. Clearly, that is not the law, contact details for NZ Post. How- a conference call with the NZ Post and the PWU would expect NZ ever, the PWU will not rule out the and the ERA to discuss how the Post to know that. possibility that should the ERA case will proceed. NZ Post is yet give it the option, the case pro- to respond to the ERA or the PWU. ACCESS USING SAME ceeds without NZ Post’s partici- In the meantime two new devel- PROCEDURE pation. Although this is unusual, opments have occurred. First, in The second development is that, it is not entirely unheard of. Giv- January, John Maynard, the PWU in the context of ratification meet- en the potential consequences for official originally denied access, ings for a new collective agree- NZ Post if they lose, it is likely at was denied a second time. At that ment, John was able to access the some point they will wake up and time, NZ Post also denied anoth- delivery branches where NZ Post realise they have to defend them- er PWU official, who is not a NZ had denied him access. This again selves. PAGE 12 M & C WORKERS NEWS

Manufacturing & Construction Workers Union Canterbury District Annual General Meeting The annual general meeting of the Canterbury District of the union will be held on • Friday 26 August 2016 • 1.30pm at the Trade Union Centre 68 Langdons Road Christchurch

Agenda 1. Minutes of the 2015 AGM

2. Secretary’s Report

3. Presentation of audited annual financial statements

4. Elections of officers • President • Vice President • Secretary • Boilermakers industry representative • Shipwrights industry representative • Engine Drivers industry representative • Engineers industry representative • Two trustees

5. General Business.

Phil Yarrall District Secretary M & C WORKERS NEWS PAGE 13 SPOTLESS BARGAINING CONTINUES Conference The other sticking point is the er offer. company’s claim to have a com- One member has recently resigned report pleteness clause verses a savings from the job stating his disgust at clause. Their justification for this the lack of consideration by the The Annual Conference of is they believe giving members a company for his attempt at an in- M&C was held on May 3rd CA is a significant concession and dividual level to attain a higher and 4th. any new CA entered into needs rate and on call payment. This ups The following officers were elect- to ensure it contains the com- the ante as on call frequency will ed: plete terms and conditions. The increase if the company does not • George Larkins General Sec- union rejects such a clause as an hire. retary • Greg Hopkins President anti-union membership clause al- Members are looking at their op- • Selwyn Cassidy Vice President lowing the employer to reduce the tions for refusing to be on call, re- • Andrew Hamilton, Monica rate or conditions of any individu- lying upon the new employment Tukaki, Trustees al joining if their paid rate or con- standards around availability pro- The need for the re-establishment ditions are higher than stated in the visions and the requirement for of an effective 40 hour working CA. reasonable compensation in that week was discussed and a motion situation. Members also are happy WILLING was carried requiring the General to withdraw the claim if the com- Secretary to write to the Labour The members are willing to con- pany wants to look at contracting sider such a clause if the CA con- Party reconfirming M&Cs posi- out the on call cover. tion put to them last year, which tained all the terms and conditions The package offer on the table cur- members believe it should have, rently is an 18 month term from had not been responded to. including higher pay, redundancy, the first Wednesday following rat- Delegates discussed recent law extra leave, better terms and the ification with a 0.8% increase for changes for employment standards the first 12 months and 0.4% at and the possible opportunities that like. twelve months and the on call al- Spotless appeared to think the may arise using these to improve lowance to increase to $125.00 per on call provisions in some collec- union misunderstood the legal week. The company has also asked meaning of a completeness clause the Union to provide wording that tive agreements. until the negotiators said this was avoids double dipping in respect to not our legal understanding, sim- the completeness clause issue. Trades Hall ply our bargaining position/count- Bargaining continues. ownership Health & Safety at Work Act 2015 report A health and safety handbook is available for union The conference received a report from Graeme organisers/delegates at a discounted price of $39. Clarke and Andrew Ham- The handbook covers worker engagement, participation and rep- ilton about the Wellington resentation under the new Act, including issues such as stress and Trades Hall finances and fatigue. There are substantial changes we need to be aware of. ownership. The book is produced by Douglas Hay, a health and safety consul- The ownership of the building and site has been split with effect from tant who operates out of Trades Hall. mid June 2016. This leaves only resident unions of Trades Hall as Contact details for purchase are: effective owners of the building. Uni-OSH consultants When the split is complete the PO Box 9435 unions will commence earthquake strengthening work, and then will Wellington look to complete deferred mainte- ph 021 142 9261 nance originating from the running 04 801 7270 down of the building that occurred during the 1990s. PAGE 14 M & C WORKERS NEWS International news... TPP submissions underscore dangers Politicians on both sides of the political spectrum awakened to the myriad harms to our society, our economy, our environment and our future should John Key be successful in imple- menting the TransPacifi c Partnership treaty. Thirty six oral submission were made to the Foreign Affairs Se- lect Committee reviewing the TPP Demonstrations against the TTPA saw thousands of New Zealanders march treaty. One was in favour and 35 opposed it. porations which sue us by using al corporations. The submitter in favour stood to the provisions of the TPP. The committee heard from most personally gain fi nancially from of the submitters of their concerns one small clause in the agreement. $55 MILLION that the TPP would erode our al- The committee heard from aca- The committee learned that imme- ready fragile democracy and sov- demics, experts and concerned cit- diately upon implementation our ereignty as overseas corporations izens speaking from their hearts, citizens and schools and universi- used the provisions in the treaty to fearing for their families and fu- ties would have to pay $55 million unduly infl uence our government’s ture generations. The committee each year to overseas corporations laws and regulations, especially heard that what John Key has la- under the Copyright chapter of the those designed to help protect our belled a ‘free’ trade agreement is TPP. environment. exactly the opposite. Only fi ve of The taxpayer would have to fund The majority of the committee the 30 chapters relate to trade. an additional $8 million each year strongly expressed the view that to subsidise Pharmac for more ex- Its Our Future’s Gen de Spa’s clos- COMPLEX RULES pensive pharmaceuticals and med- ing speech was one of the most The other 25 chapters form a ical equipment under the health moving, informative and eloquent binding set of complex rules all chapter. presentations they had ever seen to of which favour international cor- And we would immediately lose a select committee hearing. porations at the expense of our $20 million in import tariffs each collective welfare, human rights, year even though most of the NATIONAL MUST environment, economy, education small benefi ts we would receive TAKING STOCK and health systems and New Zea- from overseas tariff reductions in The National government must land businesses. some countries won’t be seen until take stock. This government’s The government’s claims that our 2025-2028 and won’t be fully in continual drive to transfer our economy would be better off by place until 2053. public wealth and public domain $2.7 billion by 2030 was chal- A majority of the submitters were to overseas corporations through lenged by many submitters who gravely concerned that the TPP asset sales, subsidies to coal min- pointed out the costs to our econ- treaty would inhibit future gov- ing and oil extraction, deep sea oil omy and directly to tax payers ernments from enacting legisla- drilling and now the mother of all would more than halve those ‘pro- tion to meet our obligations under wealth transfer programmes, the jected’ gains and this didn’t take the United Nations Convention on Trans-Pacifi c Partnership treaty, into account any suits against the Climate Change because of the are more than our country can bear government by international cor- threat of law suits by multi-nation- and still have a decent future. M & C WORKERS NEWS PAGE 15 Tax havens major “It’s the same investors in New Zealand the whole The Panama Papers have ish Virgin Islands, Ireland, Cay- shone a most welcome (and man Islands, China, Switzerland, world over...” long overdue) light into the Norway and France. All had over Bangladeshi workers staged $160m in foreign direct invest- a demonstration on the third murky world of tax havens, ment in New Zealand. anniversary of the collpase offshore trusts and shell of the Rana Plaza building. companies. AUSTRALIA 52% They were demanding the It is worth noting that two noto- These accounted for 96% of for- government initiate a judicial rious tax havens – the British Vir- eign direct investment in New trial of the buildings owner gin Island and the Cayman Islands Zealand. Australia alone accounts who was responsible for the – are among the top foreign own- for 52%. deaths and injury of 3500 ers of New Zealand companies. In British Virgin Islands and Cayman mostly garment workers in both cases, they rank ahead of Chi- Islands are tax havens. A Statis- the building. na, putting it into perspective. tics New Zealand study showed that in 2010 large proportions of ITALIAN METAL CONFIDENTIAL the foreign direct investment from WORKERS STRIKE Who are the actual owners? They, the Netherlands, Singapore, Hong Over a million Italian Metal of course, remain hidden or even Kong and tax havens was in fact Workers took part in a 4 day “confidential”, because that is the from other countries, led by the strike in April holding rallies purpose of tax havens. UK, US, Germany and Canada. in 100 cities. The trade union- Dirty money and ill gotten gains, In 2015, other tax havens with in- ists were striking in support and from who knows where and vestments in New Zealand com- of renewing their national when, might be coming into New panies include Vanuatu, Channel contract with a pay increase, Zealand via these tax havens. Islands, Liechtenstein, Bermuda opposing employer plans to The Government does not care be- and the Bahamas, but for all ex- have different pay rises for cause it is “foreign investment”, cept Bermuda, the value of their diferent sectors. which must, it seems by definition, holdings has been suppressed as be a good thing. “confidential”. DEMONSTRATIONS Key Facts about foreign control Bermuda has shown a negative of New Zealand (provided by the investment in New Zealand com- BACK PRESIDENT Trade union demonstrations Campaign Against Foreign Con- panies since 2009 (negative $1.8 were held in Argentina, Uru- trol, CAFCA) are: billion in 2015). So has Germany guay and all 27 states in Brazil As of March 2015, the origin of since 2013. Negative investment in support of Brazilian Presi- the biggest foreign owners of suggests that the companies may dent, Dilma Rouseff. Rouseff New Zealand companies were in have been loaded with debt to their is threatened with impeach- decreasing order: Australia, US, parents which has implications for ment in a move by politicians Hong Kong, UK, Singapore, Ja- profits declared in New Zealand linked with business. Demon- pan, Canada, Netherlands, Brit- that are subject to our tax. strators called this a coup because of its lack of legal basis.

UAW WINS The UAW has won a union election at Volkwagen’s USA car plant. It was the only plant without a union in the VW group. The company ap- pealed the win but it was con- Envirowaste is owned by British Virgin Island company Cencioni firmed by the courts. PAGE 16 M & C WORKERS NEWS NZ Post delivers scam mail and punishes good behaviour A recent issue with scam who had received it from Solar- used her explanation at the investi- mail at NZ Post highlights is Empire Travel Malaysia in his gation meeting to tell her at second the whistleblower protec- private mail. The Postal Workers investigation report back of the tion for employees. Union now has a second post- penalty of imprisonment for any ie who also has a scratchie with repeat of her action. Nelson postie, Carolyn, was a US$180,000 prize from Noble threatened with a possible jail sen- Carolyn has told NZ Post that she Queen Tour Malaysia using an wants the company’s policy on tence by NZ Post if she repeated identical brochure with the same any warnings to a rest home about scam mail changed - that posties wording, ticket layout and spelling should be encouraged to assist in scams coming through the post. mistakes. The postie was concerned that res- protecting residents from being idents on her delivery round could scammed - the same policy that lose money while trying to claim DOING THE RIGHT applies at KiwiBank. The Postal six figure US dollar ‘prizes’ from THING Workers Union wants NZ Post to their ‘winning’ scratchies. When Carolyn saw that she had alert community news media es- 20 identical envelopes from Ma- pecially where scams appear to be laysia the same as the scam prize localised. New Zealand Post says “NOT SO LENIENT envelope she told her team leader residents (presumably also those NEXT TIME” that she did not want to be party to in rest homes) are free to check At a preliminary report back of the having people lose money through websites to see if they are being company’s investigation into her scams - especially the rest home scammed. action Carolyn was told that al- residents on her delivery round. though she would not be getting a After twice refusing to deliver the CONCERN warning on this occasion, she was scam mail the management called Carolyn’s concern is not only for told the company would not be so Carolyn to an investigation meet- the rest home and other residents lenient next time. She was then ing. Carolyn explained that be- on her delivery round but also for told of the consequences of her cause the company had not acted any unsuspecting residents from breaching Section 20 of the Postal on her evidence of the scam, and being caught up in a scam coming Services Act and of the penalty of that the management had told the through the post. up to 6 months in prison. Postal Workers Union that the po- It is especially concerning given In fact Carolyn had not breached lice would not be interested in the that new scams are popping up all the provision of the Postal Ser- particular scam that she had raised, the time. Despite the threats from vices Act about divulging infor- she herself felt compelled to follow the company about dismissal Car- mation gained in the course of her what she had been trained to do by olyn intends notifying residents of duties. The management had not NZ Post - to “do what is right” and any scam mail that she is aware of. bothered to ask her how she came to uphold NZ Post values. Employees who raise issues of law to know that the mail items were Carolyn was shocked that NZ breaking with their employer first a scam. Post did not commend her for her have a right and a duty to blow At her postie job Carolyn had been intentions in wanting to protect the whistle if their employer does shown a US$180,000 prize win- rest home residents from being nothing. This right is protected in ning scratchie by another postie scammed. Instead the company NZ law. Issue number 108 of “M & C Workers News” was prepared by the National Office of the Manufacturing & Construction Workers Union. The union may be contacted at PO Box 6287 Wellington New Zealand. Phone (04) 3858264, Fax (04) 3848007, email to [email protected] The articles published in M & C Workers News are not necessarily the same as the policies of the union