First Security strike against low pay

Union members at First Security took strike action on April 19 in support of 15 members from the company’s patrols division who were earlier locked out by the company after a two-hour strike for decent pay. 

Unite organisers joined staff picketing the company’s Mt Wellington head office. Representatives from the Amalgamated Workers Union and the National Distribution Union also attended to show their solidarity. 

Non-union staff and management who turned up for work found the exit was blocked by a placard-covered car which mysteriously appeared outside. The picketers were not intimidated by management claims that their action was illegal and calling the police. After discussion with organisers, management agreed to lift the lockout and to meet with Unite for further talks on wages. 

First Security guards begin on $13.52 per hour. The company was offering a three percent increase which would bring them to just $13.93. (The minimum wage is $13.00 from 1 April) Patrol staff want a minimum rate of $14.50 per hour which has been refused by the company. First Security is owned by Dutch multinational ISS. 

According to Unite organiser Barry Sutherland, “Already the pay rates for patrol staff at First Security are the lowest in Auckland. Many of the staff are migrant workers who are fearful of their employment and more easily cowed to accept low pay and long hours of work.” 

After the success of Saturday’s picket, these workers will not be so easily intimidated in future.

Lockout wave continues un-remarked

by Pat O’Dea 

The wave of lockouts continues to go un-remarked by both the government and the opposition, with the media carrying only the barest mention. Over the past few months there has hardly been a week, when one, two, or even three lockouts have been going on around the country. This week has been no different. 

The lockout of miners at Rotowaro is now entering its third week, as state-owned coal miner Solid Energy try to force contracting out and casualisation into the mining industry. Today employers at aluminium can maker Amcor, have joined the lockout wave, in an effort to bludgeon these workers into giving up smoko breaks. 

Imagine the outcry if instead of a wave of lockouts by employers to cut wages and enforce layoffs and casualisation, there was a wave of strikes by workers for better wages and conditions, and permanent jobs. 

The loud denunciations by MPs from the pulpit of parliament, would be carried in banner headlines right across the mainstream media. Experts and commentators would be filling the radio airwaves and making guest appearances on TV Editorialists would be spilling copious amounts of ink in the press, bemoaning “greedy workers”, “wreaker unionists” and my all time favourite “lazy featherbedders”, accusing these “overpaid and under-worked”, “industrial militants” of “holding the country to ransom”. 

Truly we live in a class society.

Gumboot power: Bridgeman Concrete workers beat lockout

By Pat O’Dea
 

Workers locked-out for nine days by Bridgeman Concrete in South Auckland, hardened their picket last week and actively impeded two concrete trucks from leaving the depo, costing the company $3,000 in ruined concrete.

The company responded by caving in, and lifted the lock-out.

Although lockouts are legal, effective picketing – actually stopping scabs, vehicles or goods crossing the picket line – is not. 

Because of the illegal nature of effective picketing, the picture above is the only photo released by the NDU of this militant action. As well as lifting their lockout Bridgeman also conceded to workers’ demands for a fairer redundancy agreement that does not allow them to discriminate against union members (the original cause of the dispute). The company has also agreed, for the first time, to redundancy payments and full consultation with the NDU if planning redundancies. 

In a comical footnote; Bridgeman Concrete has sent the bill for the ruined concrete to the union. I wonder if they will try to Baycorp them? Bridgeman Concrete just might find that the last laugh will be on them, because Baycorp has recently been unionised by the Unite union, who are very close allies of the NDU. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if all the paperwork accidentally slipped down a crack behind some desks. All power to the gumboot.

Lockout flu spreads unchecked - CTU campaign needed

by Pat O'Dea

Earlier this year, when the swine flu dominated the headlines, though dangerous I predicted that it would blow over, especially if the authorities took proper safeguards.

At the same time I also predicted that like a contagious disease, the spreading use of lockouts would get worse if left unchecked. I felt then and still do that the growing readiness of employers to use lockouts needed to be addressed by the Combined Trade Union movement.

As I predicted then the rash of lockouts would grow unless the CTU decided to act against them with a campaign for militant union wide solidarity actions.

As I said then, any employer who reaches for the lockout weapon needed to be smacked down hard to discourage others.

Employers have just announced twice in one day, their preparedness to use of this once rare tactic against dairy workers and concrete workers. See http://business.scoop.co.nz/2009/09/16/employer-militancy-grows/

Added to these two new lockouts, the threatened lockout against the bus drivers, and the Telecom campaign to dismiss and starve out of their network engineers, till they agree to take jobs at much reduced wages and conditions (a lockout in all but name). The Telecom campaign gathered pace last week, when their subcontractors closed the gates on another 200 engineers. See http://business.scoop.co.nz/2009/09/16/employer-militancy-grows/

Individual worksites and unions are almost powerless in the face of lock outs, As the progressive dispute showed, only a CTU wide call for wide solidarity from all affiliated unions blunted this attack...

I think that a mass union campaign against lockouts needs to be mounted again.

Further, I think we need to deal with this growing emergency before it becomes an epidemic.

I would like to suggest a mass rally of all trade unionists be called outside one of the guilty employers on a Saturday, to reopen the gates, and get the workers back inside.

I would like to suggest that with the agreement of the NDU, that Bridgeman Concrete be the first target for such a Combined Trade Union campaign.

Because: A. The Bridgeman lockout was completely unprovoked. B. The Bridgeman lockout is the one that is presently ongoing now.

Employer militancy grows says NDU

“An indefinite lock-out of workers by Bridgeman Concrete in Manukau City shows increasing employer militancy taking advantage of the recession and growing unemployment,” says Robert Reid, General Secretary of the National Distribution Union. 

“This lock-out, of workers who have not taken any industrial action, will only be lifted by the employer if the workers agree to a wage freeze and no changes to their collective agreement for 2 years,” Robert Reid says. 

“This brutal employer action follows hard on the heels of a lock-out threat of NZ Bus drivers and cleaners in Auckland for ‘working to rule’ and a proposed lock-out of dairy workers near Matamata who are trying to achieve their first Collective Agreement. 

“Employers are the first to attack unions for taking advantage of tight labour market conditions, but seem far more ready to use the lock-out tactic than unions use the strike when the boot is on the other foot. 

“While some employer leaders preach co-operation and industrial peace, many actual employers seem over eager to reignite the ‘class war’. 

“The Bridgeman lock-out is an appalling example of an employer paying under industry rates with inferior redundancy agreements and trying to starve its workers into submission. These workers are key for Auckland infrastructure projects and start work early every day while the rest of the country is asleep. These guys are the battlers. They are the unsung heroes who help build a better life for us all. Yet they are shown no respect by an employer who will not even front up to the workers and hides behind his hired gun,” says Robert Reid. 

Note: Picket is currently underway at the Bridgeman Plant, 55 Crooks Road, East Tamaki Contact: Robert Reid
NDU National Secretary (021) 535 933

Maritime Union backs locked out flight attendants

Maritime Union of New Zealand media release 7 May 2009 The Maritime Union is backing locked out flight attendants employed by Air New Zealand subsidiary Zeal 320. Maritime Union of New Zealand General Secretary Trevor Hanson says waterfront workers and seafarers supported protests by locked out workers in Auckland and Wellington today. "The Maritime Union will give full and active support to our fellow transport workers and their union the EPMU in this dispute." He says the tactics of Air New Zealand management are "textbook anti-worker, anti-union stuff." "They have been using lock outs, threats, strike breakers, holding companies - all to reduce the wages and conditions of their workers." Mr Hanson says that Air New Zealand management will find that their actions will only damage the company. "Workers are no longer prepared to accept this type of activity with fat cat executives ripping off the workers who generate the profit." He says there is a new and combative mood amongst workers who were standing up for their rights. Mr Hanson says as a majority public-owned company, Air New Zealand had an obligation to act in the public interest, rather than as "pirate capitalists." 240 flight attendants employed by Air New Zealand subsidiary Zeal 320 Ltd have been locked out for four days. The workers do the same work as flight attendants employed by Air New Zealand, but are employed on inferior wages and conditions. See also The growing rash of lockouts must be nipped in the bud

The growing rash of lockouts must be nipped in the bud

by Auckland Union Activist 27 April 2009 Only wide spread militant solidarity actions can beat a lockout. As the recession deepens, business and governments friendly to business will try to put the burden of their collapsing profits onto workers, rather than their rich stake-holders. Employers are using lockouts to intimidate workers and their unions to accept often arbitrary and unfair demands. Air New Zealand General Manager for short haul, Bruce Parton, announcing the lockout of Air NZ workers, alluded to the recession as the reason for locking out his staff. Referring to the offer tabled by Air NZ, Parton said: "Now is not the time to look a gift horse in the mouth." We must not be intimidated. The history of the 1873 and 1929 depressions showed that unions that lowered their expectations and accommodated employer’s demands went out of business. This is fact. The brutal truth is, if a union can't defend you, it’s then not in your interests to be in one. In a time of mass redundancies union members are often the first down the road, to be replaced with casual, or contract workers, who are generally not in unions. One result of the economic slumps of the past was a drop in union membership. Unions only recovered when in desperation grassroots movements sprung up that championed workers’ demands militantly and relentlessly. Using tactics of widespread solidarity, the biggest growth of unions in history occurred in the depths of the depression in the USA. Through these more militant tactics workers were able to keep more of the wealth they had created for themselves. This big increase in buying power at the bottom of the economy is one of the reasons that the depression started to lift. Only an injection of cash at the bottom of society can ease the recession, but the employers refuse to accept this fact because it will mean they must accept cuts in their profits. As every serious economist is saying, the rich are not prepared to invest their money because they are frightened of getting burned again. The main reason is their very real fear that the people they loan money too will not pay it back. Decades of real declining incomes have only been obscured by debt. US statistics have shown that despite falling real incomes over the last ten years, consumption had been going up. This was the so-called bubble economy. The only way we can possibly get out of this mess is increase workers’ expectations. Therefore: 1. We must not take part in the recession. 2. We must say this is your crisis we will not be part of it. 3. We must learn from history. 4. Employer lockouts must be immediately met with escalated solidarity actions from our side. Starting now, the CTU, as the overarching body of New Zealand unions, should take every lockout seriously and publicly call for the widest solidarity actions possible to smash them. Otherwise employers will increasingly use lockouts as a weapon to intimidate workers and ultimately drive unions from the workplace. See Lock-out Notice Issued to EPMU

Lockouts need to be smashed

By Auckland union activist  

11 April 2009

As the recession deepens more and more employers will look to escalate any dispute with their employees by locking them out. This is what Synovate has done to 30 call centre workers belonging to the Unite union. 

See links to articles below. 

Facing this form of escalation, unionists are obligated to escalate the dispute as well. 

As the Progressive lockout showed, the only way lockouts can be defeated is with wide solidarity actions from the rest of the union movement. Much to the shock, horror and surprise of employer groups, through the use of solidarity actions, this determined anti-union campaign was defeated. 

This must become the standard practice by the union movement in response to any employer lockout from now on. 

This shitty employer, in this notoriously low wage industry, needs to be slapped down, as a warning to all employers that their will be consequences for you if you decide to escalate a dispute with your employees by going to this next level of intimidation. 

I would like to challenge Helen Kelly as the head of the CTU to issue a call for as many unionists and supporters as possible for a rally outside this workplace in support of these locked out trade unionists. 

Australian workers have also shown the way to defeat lockouts. Every lockout by an Australian employer is always met with massive solidarity action. We need to follow their example.  

See Call centre workers strike over pay offer and Striking workers told they're lucky to have job