Richmond Pak ‘n Save workers are set to strike after failing to negotiate a new collective agreement for five years.
According to First Union retail organiser Ross Lampert, many North Island Pak ‘n Save stores operated by Foodstuffs North Island have negotiated collective agreements, while Foodstuffs South Island is “more difficult” to deal with.
He told Stuff that five years of negotiation was “an absurd amount of time to be underpaid, undervalued, and uncertain about workers’ entitlements and conditions”.
Lampert said it was shameful during a time when supermarkets are making huge profits.
The company’s latest offer was 40 cents above the minimum wage – currently $18.90 an hour, while the living wage rate is $22.10 per hour, he said.
“At a time when [rival] Countdown has gone to $21.15 an hour, for any worker that’s been there for over a year, Pak ‘n Save is just not keeping up,” Lampert said.
The owner of Pak n’ Save Richmond, Andrew Howard, told Stuff that mediation was scheduled and only one employee participated in the strike.
“We are engaged in good faith bargaining with First Union and have met with them with the goal to conclude a collective agreement,” Howard said. “An offer was made to the union last August and the union bargaining representatives have advised the offer has been put to the members.”
