Striking ambulance staff offer free ambulances this holiday season

Over 1000 St John Ambulance Professionals are stepping up industrial action by providing their service free to the public this Christmas. The non-invoicing of patients will be a welcome surprise to many who may unfortunately need to use the emergency service this holiday season. The non-invoicing of patients is an escalation of action after St […]

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NZ is a multicultural nation that has no time for xenophobic attitudes

FIRST Union and its affiliate, the Union Network of Migrants (UNEMIG), have been involved in the consultation process of the United Nation’s (non-binding) Global Compact for Migration that seeks to promote orderly patterns of migration and to protect the lives of migrants living outside their birth country. We have put effort behind this because we […]

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Temporary work visa proposal could go a long way to reducing migrant worker exploitation

  The Government announced consultation for new changes to temporary work visas for migrants on Tuesday (December 17th) that seeks to better match skills to specific needs for different industries and regions while protecting the rights of everyday working people. The changes Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says the proposed changes affect several visas. All employer […]

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More fuel tank drivers strike and picket over overtime allowances

While around 180 Pacific Fuel Haul tanker truck drivers have settled their collective, tanker truck drivers at SouthFuels who deliver fuel and lubricants to the primary industries in that region are now on strike over what are standard clauses in their industry. Members have been on strike since Sunday (1am, 16th December) over what are […]

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Silviculture is synonymous with low wages and worker exploitation

Yesterday, migrant exploitation was exposed in the forestry industry. The Labour Inspectorate has penalised Silviculture Solution Ltd (SSL), an associated company of CNI Forestry Management Ltd, 35,000 dollars for an ‘illegal system of calculating pay’. Instead of paying workers what they were legally entitled to, the company paid them for what they considered were ‘productive […]

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Minimum wage increase a decade overdue and the right thing to do – Workers Speak Out

The Coalition Government has announced the largest increase to the minimum wage, ever, in its move towards its minimum wage goal of $20 per hour by 2021. FIRST Union General Secretary Dennis Maga says while the minimum wage (currently $16.50), is not enough to live off and should only have ever been used as a […]

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The case for an industry-wide agreement for supermarket workers

Jackie can’t remember the last time she and her family had a holiday or even when her and her husband spent quality time together. “Money is too tight,” she says, “As a family we are working day and night just to cover the basics.” Jackie works at a supermarket. Supermarket workers are some of the […]

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Uniform Protest Begins for St John Ambulance Professionals

From tomorrow, over one-thousand St John Ambulance Professionals will be taking an unusual form of strike action; they will be swapping out their regular St John uniforms for mufti and orange high-vis vests that read, ‘Shift Our Pay’. FIRST Union members are taking the partial strike action after ten days of negotiations over several months […]

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The Strike of 180 Fuel Tanker Truck Drivers Could be Avoided – Union

180 fuel tanker drivers at Pacific Fuel Haul have voted to walk off the job from December 16 for five days.  The drivers are striking to protect modest redundancy provisions and for a fair and reasonable wage increase. FIRST Union Transport, Logistics and Manufacturing Secretary Jared Abbott, says the drivers are bearing the brunt of […]

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