[ad_1]
Warwick Smith/Stuff
Workers strike and demonstrate outside The Warehouse on Palmerston North’s Pioneer Highway.
About 40 Palmerston North staff walked out of The Warehouse on Friday afternoon in support of getting a decent pay rise from the giant retailer.
First Union organiser Dion Martin said it was symbolic that on the day the Living Wage increased to $26 an hour, Warehouse workers were still stuck on pay rates of $24.77 an hour after five years of service.
He said for most staff at The Warehouse, it was the first time they had ever been on strike, even for just two hours.
“This is a huge thing for them.”
Striking workers approached by Stuff said they had been threatened with dismissal if they spoke to the media.
City councillor Lorna Johnson, however, was waving a placard at the demonstration and was happy to speak up.
“People are telling me the cost of living is going up, and their wages are not – they are really low.
“These are people who work really hard.”
Johnson had been a strong advocate for the city council becoming a Living Wage employer, and said businesses should follow suit, if they could afford it.
“And we think The Warehouse can afford it.”
Warwick Smith/Stuff
Striking workers want The Warehouse to match other retailers paying the Living Wage.
The Palmerston North workers were to be joined by others at the Catherine Plaza in West Auckland in taking strike action on a busy Friday afternoon leading up to Fathers’ Day.
They made up just a portion of the 1400 First Union members involved in the pay bargaining.
Union organiser Nicholas Mayne said The Warehouse’s treatment of workers should reflect its motto of “Here for Good”.
He said staff were under stress not simply because of low pay, but because stores were understaffed and hours of employment were insecure.
“The Warehouse have offered less than a living wage and a pay rise below the rising cost of living, and workers have had enough of being pushed to take it or leave it by company executives – that is not a negotiation,” he said.
The Warehouse Group chief human resources officer Richard Parker said he was disappointed workers had chosen to strike.
He said the company had been negotiating in good faith with the union on the collective agreement covering The Warehouse and Warehouse Stationery stores.
“During the most recent two-year term of this collective agreement (which expired on 31 July 2023) our team members who had been employed for one year or more received, on average, a pay increase of 8.93%.”
Parker said the company was mindful of cost of living challenges staff faced, but believed the 4% increase offered was fair in a challenging trading environment.
He said The Warehouse provided staff benefits beyond pay including 26 weeks of parental leave topped up to full pay, additional sick leave, birthday and volunteering leave, long service benefits and staff discounts.
[ad_2]