Lui Betham and Margaret Jackson have joined a campaign calling for Resene Paints to pay its workers a living wage. Photo / Melissa Nightingale
Lui Betham and Margaret Jackson have joined a campaign calling for Resene Paints to pay its workers a living wage. Photo / Melissa Nightingale
Resene employees are campaigning to be paid a living wage, describing how they are struggling to get by on their current pay.
Workers have spoken of working 50-60 hours a week just to get enough money to cover bills.
Union delegates said they were overwhelmed by the support the Hutt Valley community has shown them so far.
Factory workers surviving on canned foods, pulling 60-hour weeks to have enough money to “feel human”, and one man who couldn’t even afford a present for his child’s birthday have banded together to fight for a living wage.
Resene employees have launched a campaign calling on the company to pay the living wage - currently $27.80. Most involved in the campaign are earning just above minimum wage, which is $23.50 an hour.
The living wage is a regularly revised hourly rate that is considered the minimum to provide workers and their families with the basic necessities of life, factoring in expenses, rest, activities and rainy day savings. It is a voluntary amount that employers can choose to set as a base rate for their staff.
Living Wage Aotearoa New Zealand has written four times to Resene managing director Nick Nightingale requesting a meeting to discuss the issue, but has yet to receive a response.
“The community’s really proud of Resene and would be even prouder to see them paying the living wage,” said the community organiser for Wellington, Finn Cordwell.
Nick Nightingale, managing director of Resene, has been invited to attend a community meeting on May 13. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Resene’s head office and main manufacturing sites are in the Hutt Valley.
Cordwell said it was “problematic” Resene continued to run a campaign to help stock food banks while “many of Resene’s staff are struggling to survive on their wages”.
He said some of the company’s workers were living on canned meat and vegetables because they could not afford fresh food, while others have shared with him how humiliated they felt having to mislead friends and make up excuses to avoid going out for dinner or doing any activity that costs money.
“One worker, who spoke at the Living Wage for Resene Launch, told me he couldn’t even afford a birthday present for his child. He said it was the worst day of his life - no matter how hard he scrimped and saved he just couldn’t find the money,” Cordwell said.
E tū delegates Margaret Jackson and Lui Betham, both factory workers, have also spoken of the struggle to get by on low pay.
“You’re working constantly overtime outside your normal hours, even on Saturdays, just to try and live within your means more comfortably,” Jackson told the Herald.
“For me, it’s no choice, like it’s a need for me, I need to work extra hours to get extra money even though that still doesn’t cut it.”
She said she worked 50-60 hours a week but was unable to hold onto savings when various unexpected bills popped up, such as relatives’ funerals or car troubles.
Lui Betham and Margaret Jackson are Resene factory workers and E tū delegates who have joined the campaign calling for Resene to pay employees a living wage. Photo / Melissa Nightingale
Jackson is planning to return home to Niue for her nana’s unveiling but has been unable to save enough money despite working such long hours.
“Just when you think you’re just getting ahead, then you slip back to the bottom,” she said.
“It would be nice to have that couple of hundred extra in our pockets, go home and see my family and spend some time, feel happy.
“It would be nice just to do a 40-hour week.”
Betham said he had worked at Resene for 13 years, and rent has doubled in that time, while child support, food costs and other bills have also shot up.
He said the campaign was “nothing personal” against the company.
“It’s just reality, to be honest with you. Most of the workers in a perfect world, if we were paid for how we worked, we would all be millionaires.
“Some of our workers were afraid to talk, but I’ve got a voice and I put it out there for us, not just for me but for my brothers and sisters.”
He also worked overtime to try to create a financial buffer, meaning it felt as though he barely had a weekend.
“You go to sleep, you wake up, and it’s Monday again ... you’ve got us between a rock and a hard place, we have to get that money just to get ahead and to feel like a human.”
He said they felt “blessed and grateful” for the support they have received from the community.
Jackson agreed, saying they felt “overwhelmed by the love and support”.
“We can’t do this alone and to have that kind of support makes us feel a little bit more confident in ourselves.”
Local priest Alison Robinson, of St David’s Anglican Church, said the church, which is backing the campaign, is close to the Resene factory in Naenae.
“I want to be able to look at the building and just feel really warm and peaceful inside,” she said.
She and other church members attended a meeting with some of the people involved in the campaign, and were “really sad and upset” to hear some of the stories of people struggling on low wages.
She spoke to employees who had worked at Resene for 10 years or more, but still weren’t being paid a living wage.
“Life on the minimum wage is difficult and it’s pretty hard and impossible, I would say, to sustain a family on that.
“It’s the right thing to look after the workers, I think it’s a win-win,” she said.
A community meeting will be held on May 13 at St Bernadette’s School hall, where Nick Nightingale is invited to listen to workers explain why the living wage is critical for them and their families.
The event will feature speakers from across the community, including public figures. The campaign will also include a community petition, public actions at Hurricanes games, which Resene sponsors, and more.
Resene has not responded to requests for comment from the Herald.
NB: The author has no connection to Nick Nightingale.
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.
