August 24, 2022
Workers want better overtime package
Workers at two Auckland packaging manufacturers are going into mediation this afternoon in an attempt to get movement on their stalled pay claims.
More than 100 E Tu members at Visy Board New Zealand in Wiri and Visy-owned Charta Packaging in Highbrook went on strike for 24 hours from 3.30am this morning, the first such action in more than 25 years.
E Tu organiser Amy Hasen says they want a cost of living increase of at least 10 percent as well as for overtime to kick in a 40 hours rather that the current 50.
She says a lot of the largely Māori and Pasifika workforce put in long hours just to make ends meet.
“When they’re working 50, 60 hours it’s families that are impacted. Kids aren’t getting to see their dads. They might see them for a couple of minutes while they are getting ready for school. It’s the children who are suffering,” Ms Hasen says.