One NZ confirms staff cuts, continues talks with union over work-from-home reduction, 10pc pay rise

One NZ's headquarters at Smales Farm on Auckland's North Shore.

Unite Union says “north of 100″ jobs are on the line at One NZ in an ongoing consultation process. The telco won’t confirm numbers but earlier CEO Jason Paris said a “limited number” of its 2500 staff would leave the business. Meanwhile, the union and telco remain at odds over a proposal for call centre staff (and many other teams) to work in the office three days a week - up from the previous two - and a push for a 10 per cent pay rise. Unite says industrial action is possible if no agreement is reached.

One NZ says a consultation process, first confirmed by chief executive Jason Paris in early December, is ongoing. The telco, which employed 2500 ahead of the restructure, won’t confirm the numbers involved. But Unite Union, which represents 112 staff at the telco, concentrated in its call centre, said indications were that “north of 100 roles” had gone.

Staff who went through the consultation process pre-Christmas, “were provided three months’ notice to take them through the holiday period and give them the best chance to find alternate employment,” One NZ spokesman Connor Roberts said.

He declined to say how many staff were affected. Earlier, chief executive Jason Paris earlier said the restructure would impact a “limited number” of staff.

Unionised staff to vote on offer

Separately, Unite said before Christmas that it would enter mediation with One NZ this month over a push for a 10 per cent annual pay increase, plus time and a half for any non-overtime or overtime rostered hours outside 9am-5pm on weekdays.

Unite spokesman Sam Burnside-Woods said the union also wanted to overturn a recent change to One NZ’s remote-working policy, which now requires contact centre staff to work three days a week in the office, up from the previous two.

A “global clawback” was under way as a number of companies sought to reverse pandemic-era work-from-home gains, he says. “That means higher transport, childcare and environmental costs.”

If mediation failed, “we will move to stop-work industrial action”, the union rep said.

Mediation began on January 25. Unite now has an offer from One NZ that it will put to its members today, with a vote pencilled in for Friday.

This morning, Burnside-Woods said: “One NZ has made meaningful changes, but their core position remains the same and so may frustrate members.”

One NZ’s Roberts said: “We had a constructive meeting with Unite Union last week and made good progress with it. We’re working through the detail and cannot comment until the process has concluded.”

Both sides said confidentiality clauses around the negotiations restricted what they could say.

‘Difficult economic conditions’

One NZ’s consultation process follows similar exercises at Chorus and Spark.

“One NZ operates in the fast-moving technology and telecommunications space, which means constantly adapting to our customers’ needs and market conditions. This includes ensuring our structure is best positioned for the future and changing it when required,” Roberts said.

“In addition, like many businesses and households around the country, we’re facing difficult economic conditions and need to ensure that our business is ready to respond.

“This means working hard to manage costs and simplify our operations to improve the service we provide to customers. As a result, we have proposed several changes to the size and shape of our organisation.”

Local buyout

NZX-listed Infratil formed a 50:50 joint venture with Canada’s Brookfield to buy Vodafone New Zealand in 2019.

In April last year, the telco was rebranded as One NZ.

In June, Infratil bought out Brookfield in a $1.8 billion deal to take full control (or near-full control as it boosted its stake from 49.95 per cent to 99.90 per cent; the balance of shares are owned by Paris and other senior executives).

At the same time, One NZ’s valuation was increased by around $1b to just over $3b.

Earnings up

One NZ saw operating earnings increase 8.3 per cent to $279.4 million in the six months to September 30, thanks in part to strong performance in mobile, where the average monthly revenue per user jumped from $28 to $38. Infratil said the jump was the result of roaming revenue returning as travel continued its post-lockdown boom, and “annual pricing adjustments”, aka price increases.

Infratil said One NZ’s full-year ebitdaf (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and fair value adjustments) were on track to meet guidance of $580m to $620m, “with continued momentum in mobile and forecast completion of wholesale contracts and cost-out initiatives”.

Infratil shares were recently trading at $10.72.

The stock is up 22.75 per cent over the past 12 months.

Chris Keall is an Auckland-based member of the Herald’s business team. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is the technology editor and a senior business writer.