July 11, 2013

Transpacific workers in Auckland and Wellington join strike action

Waste and recycle workers at Transpacific Industries in Auckland and Wellington are joining their Gisborne counterparts in taking industrial action for a decent wage.

Yesterday Gisborne workers finished a three day strike, protesting a low wage offer of just 30 cents an hour more.

Today workers at the company’s recycling depots in Auckland and Wellington are taking industrial action for a day also.

FIRST Union Transport & Logistics secretary Karl Andersen said that just because the big Australasian company was paying down huge debt, this didn’t mean that its workers should have to pay the price with low wages.

“If the company thinks that a solution to over extending itself in recent years is to pay poverty wages to the hard working employees in its recycling centres, it needs to think again,” he said.

“Across Transpacific’s Australian and New Zealand operations revenue was up over $1 billion AUD last year. The New Zealand division just last month in its full year guidance that trading conditions in New Zealand operations are improving.”

“Transpacific can do better. Their workers are already on low wage rates. We are always ready to discuss a reasonable offer but the wage offer from the employer in recent bargaining does nothing to bring these workers closer to a living wage.”

“This is physical and at times unpleasant work that helps keep streets in Auckland and Wellington clean. It deserves to be properly rewarded,” Karl Andersen said.

ENDS

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