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Campaign for a Living Wage Newsletter, Wednesday 28th April 2010
Support the JB Hi Fi workers fighting for better pay. Campaign for a Living Wage PARTY!
Find out about the next phase of the Movement for the Working Poor.
Auckland 7.30pm til late, Bluestone Room, Evening: Reggae legends Tigi Ness and Unity Pacific and revolutionary passion from Calle Latina and Hip Hop act Shine Forum. Koha at door. Facebook event page here . Wellington Dunedin
Strike for a Living Wage
The strike was the first ever indus trial action at one of the company’s stores in Australia or New Zealand in over 27 years of the company’s his tory. Unite Union has been negotiating with JB Hi-Fi management for over six months for a collective agreement but the Australian bosses are refusing to raise wages for staff this year. Most JB Hi-Fi workers are paid $13.50, just 75 cents above the minimum wage yet the Australian electronic retail giant JB Hi-Fi’s net profit after tax is expected to be A$117 million to A$120 million this year. “It’s absolutely ridiculous JB Hi-Fi has told employees in New Zealand they shouldn’t expect a pay rise this year when over in Australia JB Hi- Fi workers earn nearly twice as much as New Zealand workers,” said Unite Union organiser Omar Hamed. “The CEO of JB Hi-Fi was paid over A$3 million in the last year so the company cannot plead poverty to its employees who have not had a pay rise in two years”. Watch TV3 News coverage of the strike here: “We’ve been told that our next opportunity for a pay rise will be next year. That means that the majority of us will have been here two and a half years with no raise.” “JB have a great Wellington team, yet most are living week by week without being able to put money aside for their future. $13.50 hr is not enough!” "JB staff feel an intense loy alty to our employer. We’re taking this action because we feel that loyalty is not reciprocated.”
Joe Carolan, Campaign for a Living Wage The Campaign for a Living Wage has made some real achievements in the last six months · We have got over 150,000 people to sign the petition. The threshhold for signing was much higher than other campaigns such as Greenpeace’s Sign On campaign around Climate Change- we couldn’t get people to sign over the internet, they had to be over 18 and they had to be Permanent Residents in New Zealand. This is a massive achievement within a six month period and is arguably one of the biggest petition campaigns the Left has led in NZ. · We have raised the confidence for workers to demand better pay. The NZ Herald Poll that said over 61% of people supported raising the min wage to $15, the figure we had been pushing for months beforehand on the streets. Our sticker got everywhere, and the media came to Unite when the minimum wage changes were announced by the Government. · We have built a network of activists who have carried out sustained work, week in and week out, from a variety of different groups and backgrounds. This network got out of the ghettoes and comfort zones, and went on the offensive at the markets, on the streets and in the community festivals. A huge untapped resource is the tens of thousands of people who have left their emails and mobile numbers with the Campaign to help us in the future. Our best day was at Pasifika, where we got over 9,500 signatures with a crew of between 80 and 110 volunteers throughout the day. Big Day Out got 3,500 signatures with about 10 volunteers. Grey Lynn got 3,300 with about 20 volunteers. Other great interventions were at NgaPuhi festival, Waitangi day in Manukau, Christmas in the Park, Polyfest and the Chinese Lantern Festival. It would be better to mobilize a lot of people for these key events, and get 10,000 signatures in one day, than to staff many smaller one or two hour stalls at Otara or Avondale markets, netting 300 or so. We had stalls in all the major Universities and campuses, and have started a debate about low pay in student media. Students left their names with us for Unite Clubs, which we can use in the future to hold debates, screenings and strike benefits on campus with. Many students have signed the petition, pointing to a real vacuum on the Left in student life. We have also been listening to workers for the last six months. There was a noticeable rise in anger against the Government when the very low increase of 25 cents was announced, and also when the proposed GST increase to 15% was announced. Listening to the class, we learn what they are really angry about. Where now for the Movement? The issue has not gone away- the working poor we still have with us. The working poor are going to be hit again hard by the rise in GST to 15%. Political issues and attacks such as these cannot be fought by small trade unions on their own. This is an issue for the wider community and the whole of the class. Next year is World Cup Year (industrially) and Election Year (politically). 2011 will mean that the eyes of the world are on us, and that workers have a chance to register their anger at low pay, cutbacks and attacks on their conditions with the ballot box. We can intervene. Our demands are popular. $15ph, not 15% GST. Raise the minimum wage, and stuff the Government’s taxes on the workers. The real bludgers are the idle rich. They’re the ones who should pay. We should get ready to give expression to the anger people will feel about the GST increase. Some workers voted National because they were promised tax cuts. Working people pay too much tax. Traditionally, right wing parties have owned this issue- the grassroots Tea Party movement in the USA being the latest popular manifestation of this. The potential to build a pro worker movement opposing GST is also possible. Fusing these issues makes sense to people. They tell us again and again at the stalls that this is what we should do We are in this for the workers and their families. Things are going to get worse as the crisis continues. Now is the time for us to rise to the occasion, do some hard graft, and provide some hope, some strategy and some political fight in Aotearoa.
Solidarity Joe |
Working Class Heroes
“I started collecting petition signatures around the hospital wards last year”, says Grant. “Everyone signed, from Cleaners to Charge Nurse Managers, from Orderlies to Consultant Psychiatrists. Health professionals earn well above the minimum wage. "Some say that human nature is selfish", says Grant, "but it's not true that people only look out for themselves. We're connected to others. “Some nurses signed because they had children working for the minimum wage. Some remembered what it was like themselves. Others saw the impact of poverty pay on people’s health. “Many believed in the socialist idea that workers come in all shapes and sizes, but share a common cause. Like the song in the Salvation Army ad says, ‘We’re all in this together’. "I’m proud of my union for supporting this campaign. The petition was amazingly popular. If only we had more signature gatherers and more unions on board, the power of collective action would have reached our total with months to spare."
Get in touch with the $15 campaign Send a text to 029 445 5702 or email to sign up as a working class hero.
Order a bulk order of badges (30 cents each) and T-shirts ($15 each) from the Unite office - click here. Click here for more campaign information.
Joe wants you!
Website: www.unite.org.nz National Office |
The $15 an hour Campaign for a Living Wage has been initiated by Unite union. To subscribe to this newsletter please use this link. To update your subscription details or change the format this newsletter is sent to you in (HTML or plain text) use this link. To forward this newsletter to a friend use this link. |
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Celebrate International Workers Day with Unite Union.
JB Hi-Fi staff at the company’s Wellington store took strike action as part of a Unite Union campaign to win higher wages for retail workers.
What is to be done? The Campaign for a Living Wage welcomes your feedback. 
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