25 July, 2016

MEDIA RELEASE

E tū challenging school job losses after franchisee takes over

E tū is challenging the termination of three long-standing school cleaners by a franchise company after it took over the school’s cleaning contract.

The three women, who worked at Chisnallwood Intermediate in Christchurch, only learned late last week that their jobs were gone.

Today, instead of starting back to school, they are waiting for WINZ appointments.

The women have been sacked under provisions that were supposed to protect vulnerable workers when contracts change hands.

A law change last year enables small businesses with fewer than 20 workers to take on new contracts, but without the current workers.

Their former employer, Crest Clean, told the cleaners at the end of the school term that they would transfer to the new contractor, SSA, which is a franchisee through Cleantastic, a large international cleaning franchisor, trading in New Zealand as KT Ventures.

However, last week Crest Clean received a warranty from SSA stating they had only four employees and would therefore be exempt from taking on the existing cleaners.

On Friday, the cleaners handed in their keys and were paid their final pay.

E tū Industry Co-ordinator, Jill Ovens says the union considers the warranty issued by SSA invalid and it is pursuing the matter.

Meanwhile, she says the case is a warning to other schools to consider the impact on their cleaning staff if franchisors bid for cleaning contracts.

“Our fear is other schools will act to trim back their cleaning costs, by taking a low bid from ‘mum and dad’ cleaning franchises who will move to sack the old cleaners using this warranty,” she says.

Jill says the union is also investigating the role played by K T Ventures/Cleantastic as negotiator of the new contract.

She says K T Ventures has considerably more than 19 workers, according to their own information.

ENDS

© Scoop Media