Would you like a serving of unethical business practice with that salad?

Summer isn’t far off and the tomatoes are just about ripe for the picking for summer salads but… Come Monday (24/09/2018), over 100 mainly tomato hot-house gardeners and distribution workers will walk off the job for 24 hours (4am Monday 24th to 4am Tuesday 25th) over bleak pay and the company refusing to come to […]

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Christchurch pallet workers to picket once again as strike continues – food parcels pour in from community

UPDATE 8/10/18: Following strike action the company returned to negotiations with a better deal than what workers were originally asking for. 50 Christchurch workers who restore pallets for the distribution of many of New Zealand’s well-known products and who are striking for the third time until Sunday will be holding a picket tomorrow (13/09/2018) over […]

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Zero accuracy in business survey on ERA changes

The Employment and Manufacturers Association and Business New Zealand have released the annual Mood of the Boardroom survey in association with the New Zealand Herald. FIRST Union is concerned about the lack of statistical rigour in the surveys. The options on the question regarding business opinion on the ERA are geared towards a negative result. […]

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Christchurch pallet workers strike once again over dismal pay rates

50 Christchurch workers who restore pallets for the distribution of many of New Zealand’s well-known products will be striking again tomorrow over low pay and large pay variations between company work sites. Workers will strike and picket from 2pm tomorrow (Thursday 30th August) and the strike will continue until early Saturday morning.  The picket is […]

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Time to start caring about the wellbeing of bus drivers

The original plan to change the tendering process Auckland Council conducted with bus companies to win bus contracts looked like it would bring to the table a more efficient tendering process. When the NZTA ratified the Public Transport Operating Model (PTOM) in 2015 it promised an efficient and effective delivery of public transport through its […]

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Waikato bus drivers strike for the third time as GoBus requests arbitration

Over a hundred drivers in the Waikato region will once again carry out strike and picket action as the relationship with their employer Go Bus hits new lows.   The strike action will take place tomorrow for 24 hours. The picket will take place from 7:30am to 9am tomorrow (29th August) on the corner of […]

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Concrete truck drivers strike in Auckland over hours, pay and the exploitation of fellow workers

Around 10 concrete truck drivers in Auckland are striking on Monday over long hours, low pay and the exploitation of their fellow migrant workers. The workers will also picket from 9am tomorrow (Monday 27th August) outside Allied Concrete Penrose Plant, 20 Leon Leicester Ave, Mount Wellington, Auckland 1060. Media are invited to attend. The action […]

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Christchurch pallet workers living in dire situations as company continues to haul in big profits

50 Christchurch workers who restore pallets for the distribution of many of New Zealand’s well-known products will be striking tomorrow over minimal pay and large pay variations between company work sites. From 6:30am Monday (27th August) workers will picket the site at the CHEP NZ Service Centre, 95 Shands Road, Christchurch. Media are invited to […]

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Worlds Apart: A trip through Bangladesh clothing factories

The below is an excerpt written by FIRST Union organiser Kate Davis during her recent trip to Bangladesh. I awoke early on my first day in Dhaka, Bangladesh, to catch the women walking to work in droves. I must have seen thousands, not a child between them, all walking stoically toward the fenced factory doors, […]

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It’s not just the bus conditions, drivers are peeing in buckets

The plight of bus drivers in the Waikato region has only worsened since they began raising serious concerns with Go Bus at the beginning of the year. The 120 drivers from Hamilton, Otorohanga, and Te Awamutu are severely underpaid, drive old buses which cause a raft of health and safety issues (see previous releases on […]

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