Fair Share News Winter 2013

fair sharenewsNEWS FOR NZNO AND SFWU MEMBERS WORKING IN AGED CARE

WINTER 2013

“We need a law to lift wages, not reduce them”

In this issue:

Whanau feeling at Te Whare Aroha

“We’re like one big family” union delegate Lee Brown

NZNO delegate Lee Brown who works at Te Whare Aroha in Rotorua reports that at their facility they are like one big family.

Residents at the home are predominantly Maori and feel feel very much at home because the facility practices the Eden philosophy. The Eden philosophy is that a rest home or hospital is each person’s home, not just a place where they live.

Residents may be referred to as koro, kuia or kaumatua or even auntie - all Maori terms for respect and endearment for our elders.

All the way for Equal Pay!

Thanks Kristine!

We really

appreciate what

you’re doing for us!

The first round of a legal fight that could change the face of aged care is underway.

Last year caregiver and Service and Food Workers Union member Kristine Bartlett agreed to be the ‘test case’ for a challenge to the Equal Pay Act. Kristine is fronting a SFWU case that will test the law to see if it means women should be paid the same as men for doing similar work of equal value.

The case comes to court on 24 June and we will be there to support Kristine as she bravely takes the stand for fairness and justice.

Did you know that until 1972 it was legal to pay men more than women? That was supposed to have stopped. 40 years on the pay gap between the average wage for women and the average wage for men is 13 percent and widening. A good example of this might be where the male handyman at your rest home is paid more than female caregivers. The case has the potential to change all the jobs that depend on hard-working and under-valued women.

Equal Pay word find

ACTION

HARD WORKING

LOWPAID

CHALLENGE

HISTORY

PAY EQUITY

COURT

INCOME

PAY GAP

EMPLOYERS

JUDGE

RIGHTS

FAIRNESS

KRISTINE

UNIONS

GENDER

LAW

WOMEN

GOVERNMENT

LAWYERS

Caregivers Carol Ralph NZNO, Melisa Peat NZNO, Eria Smith SFWU with Ray Lind CEO Careerforce ITO

Spotlight on our stars!Melisa Peal, Caregiver at The Booms Home and Hospital Melisa recently gained her NZQA National Certificate in health disability and age support (core competency) level 3. There was a special industry training graduation awards ceremony in Paeroa at the War Memorial Hall on Wednesday 15 May co-hosted by the Thames Coromandel District Council and the Hauraki District Council.

Melisa found Careerforce training time consuming but by working together and supporting each other they were successful “Doing our homework together in groups really made a huge difference – we could talk the questions though and support each other. Some of the staff don’t have any qualifications and school was a long time ago so it was really important to support each other. Our manager Sharon Landy was really supportive and encouraging – I think it made a big difference having support from our manager and Bupa. It really felt that our employer wanted us to be successful.”

“It feels so great to have a certificate to show for all the hard work! Some of us have been so proud we can’t stop smiling! I know for one of my colleagues it’s been really significant as it’s the first certificate she’s ever received.

Melisa is interested in exploring what other education is out there so that she can learn more about caring for the elderly.

“It’s so rewarding to have achieved this qualification – it makes me feel so much more confident at work now. I feel like I can better answer family questions and I’m also more able to identify when they need to speak to the RN!’

“My advice to other caregivers who are struggling, like I was, is to keep at it, persevere! Get a group other and support each other – together you really can do it.”

Bad medicineHow the Employment Relations Amendment Bill will affect us and what we can do about it.The Government is planning law changes that undermine fundamental human and employment rights. The changes will give your employer the ability to reduce your pay and conditions. They are bad for the workforce and bad for families. We need to advocate against them and tell the Government we want fair employment laws.

“We need a law that strengthens collective bargaining”

What can I do? Keep yourself up-to-date at

union.org.nz/whycutourpay

Sign on to help with the campaign by emailing [email protected]

Make sure new employees in your workplace join NZNO or SFWU as soon they start

Make a personal submission to the select committee dealing with this Bill – we’ll provide you with all the information and support you need

Tell your friends and family about these changes – and ask them to help with the campaign

Employers will be able to opt out of MECA bargaining. Employers will be able to withdraw from bargaining for multi-employer collective agreements (MECAs). This could dismantle MECAs that have brought steady improvements and national pay and conditions for the vast majority of NZNO members.

Employers will be able to walk away from bargaining.Your employer will be able to apply to the Employment Relations Authority to declare bargaining is over. That means:

Employers will have the power to pressure you to sign an Individual Employment Agreement

Industrial action will become illegal once bargaining is declared over

NZNO will have to wait to re-initiate bargaining for 60 days

New staff can be employed on less pay and worse conditions. Currently, new employees are covered by the collective agreement in their workplace for the first 30 days. This protection will be stripped away so new employees can be paid less and open to instant dismissal. Over time this will reduce everyone’s terms and conditions.

It will be more difficult to take industrial action.The changes will make it very difficult to take industrial action in support of improved terms and conditions and even if there is a threat to your health and safety. Your employer will be able to deduct a portion of your pay for a partial strike.

Meal and rest breaks.Your employer will be able to restrict the times and durations for tea and meal breaks and how long you must work before you get a break.

No access to your personal employment information. If your job is under threat, your employer will be able to withhold information from you under some circumstances. This may remove your ability to effectively defend yourself in a disciplinary investigation or to challenge your employer’s decision to make you redundant.

Job protection will be stripped away. Workplaces with fewer than 20 employees: Jobs and conditions will not be protected when contracts for services are transferred to a new employer. Workers in larger workplaces: Outgoing employers will be required to provide the incoming employer with all your personal information such as wage and holiday records, and HR files, including performance, disciplinary and grievance information.

Solidarity! Migrant workers come together in Christchurch.Members of NZNO and SFWU who are migrant workers in aged care gathered together in March for an evening of education and entertainment! Workers from a large number of facilities attended and enjoyed the opportunity to meet each other and share their experiences and challenges as migrant workers in aged care. It was a great evening and we’re looking forward to holding more events like this here in Christchurch. If you would like to be on a email list to hear about upcoming events, please email [email protected]

Presbyerian Support Central (PSC) updateNegotiations about to begin

Unions and PSC will begin negotiating for a new collective agreement this month. Before we start we will make sure that there are some good ground-rules about how we work together so we can enter into discussions with confidence.

It is you who tell us what to negotiate for, so come along to your union meetings and let us know what you think.

Health and Safety

Your unions and the PSC have recently signed a Health and Safety Employee Participation Agreement. The agreement means that PSC has committed to working with union members to fix any health and safety issues that are identified. The agreement is a great way for unions, union members and the employers to work together for a common goal. We hope it opens the door for more opportunities to enhance our working relationship with PSC.

Joint working group

Your unions and PSC have decided to meet regularly at what we are calling “relationship forums”. These relationship forums will be a place where unions and PSC can work together on areas where we have common interest.

On the right of the photo is Rosecourt (Ultimate Care Group) delegate Mathi Krishnan.

On the right of the photo is Rosecourt (Ultimate Care Group) delegate Mathi Krishnan.

Aged care forum a great success.At a forum for aged care union members, held in Tauranga Bay recently, NZNO delegate and chair of the Bay of Plenty regional council Val Scott explained how we can become involved with NZNO members from the wider health sector by attending regional council meetings. Regional councils welcome more aged care members, she said.

Titihuia Pakeho Bay of Plenty NZNO Te Runanga Representative spoke to aged care members about the benefits of being part of Te Runanga - that whanaungatanga (whanau, haapu and tribal links) are important aspects of belonging to NZNO's Te Runanga o Aotearoa. They too would welcome more aged care members.

National Student Union (NSU) representative Ne-Villa Kiriona spoke about opportunities for health care assistants who undertake training for care giving at Waiariki Polytechnic to become part of NZNO and be supported by NSU while they are studying.

Professional nursing adviser, Margaret Cain focused her discussion with members on the challenges of working in aged care and encouraged aged care members to speak about their experiences.

Members spoke about the usual issues of low wages and lack of career pathways for caregivers and a registered nurse spoke of the pressure of supervision, delegation of duties and high workloads.

It was clear that aged care members appreciated the acknowledgement of other health sector workers who were at the forum. And they, in turn, became more aware of how they could support their aged care colleagues in union campaigns for aged care.

Everyone agreed that working together, sharing resources and equipment, knowledge and skills are key aspects of caring for residents. Resisting hierarchical structures and working together like a family or team boosts morale and brings better outcomes in caring for residents and higher levels of job satisfaction.

Finally members were encouraged to support the Service and Food Workers Union campaign for a “Living Wage” - obviously something that was a great interest to all participants at the forum!

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

Bargaining updatesBupaBupa members have endorsed their claims and their 9 member bargaining team! Bargaining is starting on 12 June. The priorities for bargaining are; a higher hourly rate and as part of that a commitment to the Living Wage campaign, Enough staff to provide good care, and better weekend rates.

OceaniaThe Oceania collective agreement expires at the end of June and work has started on the new collective agreement.

As ever, the cost of living is a big issue for union members and in an environment where the current Government continues to underfund the sector it will be a challenge for Oceania, and all aged care employers, to find ways to pay staff not only a fair rate, but a rate that people can afford to live on.

We will be negotiating the collective agreement on the 16th and 17th of July.

If you would like to be kept up to date with the negotiations email Kali Mulrine on [email protected] or text David Wait on 0274810514. You can also visit us on facebook at www.facebook.com/NZNursesOrganisation .

RadiusThe bargaining process is well under way for Radius Residential Care limited for 2013.

86 percent of the Radius members surveyed want to know more about the Human Rights Commission report into Aged Care called ‘Caring Counts’, and 89 percent said we need to be asking Radius to support us to lobby the Government for more money for aged care in order to improve wages in the sector.

In the meantime NZNO have developed an audit tool for members to use to make sure they are currently getting paid what they should be. If members haven’t seen this tool please contact your Union. We know some members are missing out because they are not moving through the pay scales in the MUCA as they should be. We also know that some members are not getting paid the qualification allowances as set out in the MUCA.

Kia kaha bargaining teams!