E tū delegates and Resene factory workers Margaret Jackson and Lui Betham are fighting for a living wage. Photo / Living Wage Aotearoa New Zealand
Resene’s unionised factory workers will strike this week after rejecting what they described as an “insulting” pay offer.
One union delegate said the offer of an average of 76 cents per hour extra for workers, many of whom are just above the minimum wage of $23.50, was a “slap in the face”.
Resene also offered a 2% increase to two allowances, equating to a 26-cent increase on meal allowances for lengthy shifts and 28 cents extra for a first aid allowance.
“I feel that offer is very insulting and diminishing,” said E tū delegate Margaret Jackson.
“We work for Resene, that makes [money] off us working for the company. They still can’t offer us a decent raise,” said Jackson, adding it made workers feel “devalued”.
“It’s pretty much like a slap in the face. Is this what they think of us? For them to even consider that is very insulting to us.
“How can you survive with a little 76-cent bloody, measly [increase]?”
Jackson, who cares for her sick mother in her personal time, works 50-60 hours a week but says she still struggles to make ends meet even when taking on as much overtime as she can manage.
Living Wage Aotearoa New Zealand launched a campaign a few months ago calling on the well-known paint company to pay the living wage- currently $28.95. The living wage is a regularly revised hourly rate that its proponents consider is the minimum to provide workers and their families with the basic necessities of life and modest leisure activities and rainy day savings.
For employers who sign up to it, the wage is set as a base rate for their staff.
Following a period of negotiations with its unionised workers, Resene offered the average 76-cent per hour increase, and the increases to the allowances, which add on to the $13.21 meal allowance for shifts over 10 hours, and increase the first aid allowance by $21.45 a year.
In response, union members unanimously agreed to take strike action on Wednesday this week.
St David’s Anglican Church in Naenae has raised funds to help cover the lost wages of striking workers, which Living Wage lead community organiser Finn Cordwell said was “a rare display of community uniting with workers”.
“This kind of direct community support for workers has not been seen in decades in New Zealand.”
Reverend Alison Robinson said supporting the workers with fundraising and at the strike on Wednesday was a “really practical and tangible way” for the church and other community groups to “love our neighbours”.
“They are struggling and so we want to stand alongside them.”
E tū delegate Lui Betham said the pay offer was “kind of depressing” and that he and his “Resene brothers and sisters” were “still struggling to live”.
“We’re blessed and grateful to have a job, yes, but, you know, we just want to live a bit with less stress.”
He and his coworkers were feeling “a bit dejected” about the pay offer but were “so humbled” by the community rallying around them.
“It’s a pretty heartwarming and beautiful feeling,” he said. “Look at these people trying to help us and don’t even know us.”
The Herald has previously reported that workers were surviving on canned foods and pulling 60-hour weeks to have enough money to “feel human”.
Resene, which has its head office and main manufacturing sites in the Hutt Valley, which has not previously responded to multiple requests for comment from the Herald, today provided a short statement.
“Our offer is consistent with the manufacturing sector annual wage increase for the current 12-month period. We will continue to negotiate in good faith with the E Tū union, who represent a small segment of our manufacturing workforce,” a spokesman said.
An email sent to multiple members of the community from managing director Nick Nightingale earlier this year said the company did not intend to join the living wage scheme.
“The living wage concept was developed by a group based in Lower Hutt in 2012 and is a blunt approach that focuses on a union-style position that workers should be paid the same pretty much irrespective of their contribution and performance,” the message reads.
“A poorer-performing worker would likely receive the same increase as an excellent performer and so on. This is not an approach I agree with.
“I believe strongly in providing pay based on merit and offering training and development opportunities to our team to help them to continue to grow in their current role or move into higher level roles with us.
“Many of the reported statements, including those made about others in our industry, are false and disappointingly misleading.
“A quick check of the living wage register shows there are no other companies in our retail or manufacturing category engaged with the programme.”
Melissa Nightingale is a Wellington-based reporter who covers crime, justice and news in the capital. She joined the Herald in 2016 and has worked as a journalist for 10 years. She is not related to Resene’s Nick Nightingale.