When A Pay Rise Is A Pay Cut - Briscoes And Rebel Sport Workers To Strike

Workers First Union members who work for major retailers Briscoes and Rebel Sport have rejected a deal containing pay ‘increases’ below the rising cost of living and have voted to begin strike action today by making their feelings about the "disappointing" pay offer known publicly (a ‘media strike’).

Samuel Gilray, a sales assistant at Rebel Sport in Christchurch who has worked for the company for around 18 years, said workers were frustrated with the Briscoe Group’s approach to pay negotiations and were striking for a better future.

"I like my job, and I like working for the company, but the last two years have been some of the most stressful of my working life and many of us are feeling frustrated after these negotiations," said Mr Gilray.

"This is one of the most successful New Zealand companies and they don’t seem to think we deserve an actual pay rise that takes us forwards rather than backwards."

"That little extra to take us into positive territory could be the difference between people going to work motivated and happy rather than disappointed and under financial pressure."

Nicholas Mayne, Workers First Union organiser, said that the Briscoe Group operated 90 stores in New Zealand (47 Briscoes and 43 Rebel Sport), and despite making over $60m in profit for the year ended January 2025, the company would not offer a pay increase to workers that met the rate of the current rising cost of living ( 3% for the 12 months to December 2024 quarter ).

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"It’s a poor wage offer to Briscoes and Rebel Sport workers," said Mr Mayne. "After another busy year of trading and tens of millions in profit, the company are offering our members an effective pay cut for 2025-26."

"Workers want to make their feelings known and expose the fact that one of our most well-known homewares brands doesn’t believe staff are worth a wage that keeps up with increasing household costs."

"It’s distasteful and miserly, and the company’s offer to members is well below the current living wage and well below what is tolerable for another year of hard work in the retail sector ahead."

Troy Johnston, a storeperson at Briscoes Petone, said that his store was "awesome" to work for, but workers deserved better from the current negotiations.

"A lot of people have worked for the company for years, even decades - but with no real growth in wages, lately it has been feeling more like a part-time job for students," said Mr Johnston.

"You want to do better than just getting by. You want to save, expand your knowledge in the job, and not be held back by the financial pressure."

Mr Mayne said the formal strike notice was for "non-compliance with any and all employer requirements to refrain from speaking to news media" and would be continuous until a collective agreement is ratified.

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