News For NZNo aNd sFwU MeMbers workiNg iN aged Care

fair sharenews

SUmmer 2013

All the way for equal pay!In August the historic employment Court decision about SFWU member Kristine Bartlett’s equal pay case opened the door to the possibility of equal pay for women.

The Court said that finding an equal pay rate for caregivers in the aged care sector means comparing their work with a job in a male-dominated sector with similar skills, effort and responsibility to caregiving. SFWU and NZNO plan to file equal pay cases for thousands of caregivers.

Caregivers: here’s what to do Sign up to be part of an equal pay case Help caregivers at work join your union so they can be part of a case too Organise a group from your workplace

to talk to politicians about what it is like working in the aged care sector on low wages

Fill out the Equal pay pledge to receive regular updates about the campaign Join our facebook page to stay up to date

www.facebook.com/Allthewayforequalpay

Supporters: here’s how

you can help Sign up to be a campaign supporter

by filling out the Equal pay pledge

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Allthewayforequalpay

No matter what you do or where you work, we all have a part to play to make sure we go all the way for equal pay.

We need to stand with Kristine Bartlett and work together to make sure we win this important case. We need to get thousands more workers in aged care into our unions because we’re stronger together.

This is a huge victory and a great first step. The battle for equal pay and a living wage in the aged care sector has begun!

SFWU and NZNO members send their thoughts to all our Filipino sisters and brothers at this sad time, as you deal with the devastation of Typhoon Haiyan. Arohanui.

Bad laws about to get worse!Though caregivers were among the last workers in New Zealand to win collective bargaining rights in the 1970s, a move by the National led government to limit bargaining rights seems designed to drag many workers back to into the past.

This spring Parliament has been debating a government proposal that would mean employers could effectively just walk away from negotiations without bothering to reach an agreement – or even make an offer to their staff.

NZNO and SFWU were among the many unions and community groups who spoke out against the proposals at a series of hearings across the country. Under the proposal employers can effectively stall negotiations long enough to have them declared ‘over’. Agreements which currently cover more than one employer could be scrapped altogether and current protections around rest breaks and what happens when the business is sold or transferred are at risk.

In 2006 NZNO and SFWU worked for over a year to try and bring small ‘stand alone’ rest homes into a national agreement in a campaign that raised hopes but ultimately failed. The SFWU’s Alastair Duncan says smart bosses can already ignore union rights, as was shown in the 2006 attempt to get a national agreement for smaller rest homes.

“Standing up for each other is hard work and we started with 251 rest homes that had not previously had collective rights. Tragically the aged care employers fought tooth and nail to prevent those workers having a voice. Under the new proposals those employers wouldn’t have even had to turn up to the meetings.”

With all eyes on the equal pay test case Alastair says we can expect some employers to use the new laws to turn their backs on the collective rights of staff. “We may not stop the law changes going through. If that happens we’ll need caregivers and other rest home staff standing together and being strong both to hang on to what we’ve got and to secure a better deal at work.”

Footnote: Both Labour and the Greens have promised to repeal the changes if elected next year.

“We need employment laws that are fair for all workers”

“We’re standing up for what is right!”

“Hands off Part 6A!”Low paid cleaners and their supporters delivered over 1500 submissions to Parliament with two strong messages for mPs: “Vulnerable workers need protection!” and “Hands off Part 6A!”

The submissions oppose the Government’s proposed changes to Part 6A of The employment relations Act 2000.

Part 6A, or the “vulnerable workers” clause of the erA, requires contractors to retain cleaners and other vulnerable workers when contracts change hands. The Government wants to exempt businesses with less than 20 employees from Part 6A.

“These are the lowest paid workers in New Zealand, who are already struggling,” said SFWU National Secretary, John ryall. “The changes to Part 6A would mean that small, cowboy contractors could drive down wages to win contracts. This would certainly lower the wages for those who can least afford it.”

The cleaners presented buckets filled with submissions to Labour mP Darien Fenton and Green mP Denise roche.

“Lumalaban kami ni nanay para sa patas na karapatan sa trabaho”

“My mum and I are standing up for fairness at work”

Nurses working in the aged care sectorThe importance of NZNO membership is widely known by members who have assisted NZNO with its campaigns and nursing practice improvements. Nursing in aged care is complex with increased scrutiny from external agencies and regulatory authorities.

NZNO highly recommends that all nurses have indemnity insurance.

New graduate nurses are encouraged to check that their membership status has changed from student or HCA (if they have been working in this role while completing their programmes) to registered nurse. We are urging fellow members and delegates to ensure all nurses are NZNO members so they have support from NZNO for professional and employment issues. Further information on indemnity insurance is available from NZNO delegates and the NZNO website www.nzno.org.nz.

We strongly advise any member of NZNO involved in a complaint or incident investigation to get in touch with NZNO member Support Centre 0800 28 38 48 promptly, even if you are told that you are not at fault and do not need to contact NZNO.

Our role is to provide independant support and advice to you during this time.

Included in the NZNO membership fee is the ability to join two professional colleges or sections . We recommend that nurses in aged care join the Gerontology Section. On joining the section each member will receive a copy of the 3rd edition of RN Care Guides for Residential Aged Care. This is an evidenced based publication compiled by Waitemata DHB with input from many experts in the aged care field on the common conditions nursed in aged care. It is an excellent resource that the nurses in aged care value highly. The section also produce three newsletters a year with reference to the latest trends and articles and a monthly newsletter of latest articles and research.

Rattling the chains?Until recently the Oceania group was the largest rest home chain in the country. However a rash of sales of its provincial homes to BUPA and the advice that others are also on the market has seen Oceania drop to second place. For staff it’s been a time of some uncertainty and worry as they balance their own needs with those of residents.

meantime, non-union ryman continues to expand in the retirement village market while unionised metlife is starting to push its profile after an expensive merger last year. Share prices in these “for profit” operators continue to climb with Summerset doing especially well which shows that even with funding levels too low there is still money to be made out of the caring for the elderly.

Public holidays: know your rightsIf you are working on a public holiday you need to know what your entitlements and rights are. With a number of public holidays coming up, now is a good time to make sure you’re

clear on what you should be getting if you work on a holiday.

everyone who works on a public holiday is entitled to payment of at least time and a half – this means a minimum of your usual hourly rate and an additional half of that rate again. e.g. if your hourly rate is $14 per hour you would be entitled to $14 + $7 = $21 per hour for every hour worked. If your employment agreement provides for more than time and a half, then your employment agreement applies.

If you work on a public holiday and it is your usual day to work you are also entitled to an alternative holiday or a “lieu day”. You are entitled to be paid the amount of pay you would have received if you had worked on the day concerned.

If you work on a roster

The question you need to ask is “Would I have normally worked on that day anyway?”

If you are working on a public holiday and it is a day you would have normally worked then you are entitled to a lieu day.

If you are rostered to work on a public holiday, and it isn’t a day that you would normally work, then you are not entitled to a lieu day.

If you are not required to work on a public holiday, but it is a day which you would usually work then you are entitled to be paid the amount you would have received had you worked on the day concerned.

The public holidays coming up are: Christmas Day (Wednesday 25 December), Boxing Day (Thursday 26 December), New Year’s Day (Wednesday 1 January) and the day after (Tuesday 2 January).

make sure you know your rights and get the entitlements we won in the law and employment agreements!

If you have any problems with your employer paying you what you are entitled to, contact your union delegate, your local union office or the Department of Labour Contact Centre 0800 20 90 20 – they can send out a Labour Inspector to your worksite if your employer is not complying with the law.

Check out this website for more information: http://www.dol.govt.nz/er/

Delegate leaderNational aged care delegate Liz Fleming was so inspired by meeting equal pay campaigner Kristine Bartlett earlier this year that she wanted to do more to get others supporting her. Liz went around of a number of aged care facilities in the Christchurch region and spoke with other delegates and members about the equal Pay Case and what it could mean for aged care workers. She asked delegates to share Kristine’s story with other members and arranged for cards of support for Kristine to be collected from each of the facilities.

Stroppy bunch work for changeA group of local aged care workers from NZNO and SFWU have formed in Hamilton to discuss (over pizza) ways to lobby the government to increase funding to the aged care sector.

We see the bargaining process as targeting our employers, but we also need to target the DHBs and the central government. That’s why we have formed.

We are educating ourselves about the highly political ‘funding formula’ for aged care and the Caring Counts report recommendations. We hosted a ‘meet the candidates meeting’ for DHB candidates to both raise awareness and enable us to cast informed votes and now we plan to focus on central government via our local mPs, invite interest groups to join us and invite the media to work with us to obtain ‘news worthy’ stories.

We are a stroppy bunch of passionate workers who are determined to raise awareness around the poverty wage in aged care. We meet adhoc on Tuesday evenings at the Hamilton NZNO office and any member of a union is welcome to join our fight to make it right for our future generations. Contact Sonya from NZNO or ru from SFWU (see back page for the contact details of your union).

“I think Kristine is very brave to stand up in court in front of her employers to ask for fair and equal pay. We all need to get behind her and support her as the case continues.”

Have your say about whether we should keep our assets in public hands.Vote in the postal referendum between 22 November and 13 December

When electricity companies are state owned the Government can control prices. High power prices result in cold and damp housing and that means New Zealanders suffer.

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GASPUBLICOWNerSHIPASSeTSeLLINGWINDmILLCITIZeNS

INITIATeD OPINIONCArePeOPLeVOICePOSTALBALLOT

HeALTHSOCIAL COmmUNITY POVerTYSHAreHOLDerSTAXPAYer

For more information about joining the union contact New Zealand Nurses Organisation

Phone 0800 28 38 48 www.nzno.org.nz

Service and Food Workers Union Ngā ringa Tota Phone 0800 86 46 61

www.sfwu.org.nz

Give us a break!On Wednesday 30 October, workers across New Zealand told the Government not to take away our right to regular meal and rest breaks.

The ePmU’s rachel mcIntosh had this to say about it.

“We all look forward to having a break during the work day – having a cuppa, stepping outside for some fresh air, getting off our feet for a couple of minutes.

Under National’s proposed changes to our employment laws, workers might not have a break to look forward to.

They want to take away the guaranteed minimum rest breaks which are currently in the law and replace them with a general obligation for your employer to give you “a reasonable opportunity” to get a break.

If you and your employer can’t agree on what that “reasonable opportunity” means, guess who gets the final say? Your employer, of course. And if they think it’s not “reasonable” to give you a break at all? You could be working a very long shift without a single cuppa or smoko.

meal and rest breaks are an essential part of having a healthy and safe workplace. Working long stretches without a break contributes hugely to errors and accidents.

Yes, your employer will have to compensate you for the lack of breaks – but that’s going to be cold comfort when you’re totally worn out or even get injured on the job due to tiredness.

People who have a collective agreement will probably have guaranteed rest breaks, so they’ll be okay for now. Workers on individual agreements won’t be so lucky.”

We

stand fo

r

FAIRNESS

at WORK