Spotless Services reckons that up to $400,000 of new government funding to the health sector is going into Service and Food Workers Union coffers.
About 800 unionised cleaners, cooks and orderlies employed by Spotless at 15 hospitals were locked out yesterday after a court challenge by the union
failed.
Pickets went up at hospitals and the company continued to do contracted work with non-unionised workers and 100 volunteers recruited from within the company.
Spotless said yesterday it finally got to see an agreement between the union and district health boards and it did not like what it saw.
Non-unionised workers are to pay $5.90 a week to the union in what is known as a pass-on fee for piggy backing on a union-negotiated agreement.
"The union is expecting Spotless to sign a contract that could see many hundreds of thousands of dollars poured straight into union coffers," said Mark Russell, general manager of Spotless Healthcare Services.
Spotless estimates the fee will provide $300,000 to $400,000 in extra income for the union.
Union spokesman Alastair Duncan said the claim was a diversion tactic from the main issue - the base pay rate of low-paid workers.
The law provides that if non-unionised workers freeload on a union-negotiated agreement they pay a transaction fee to the union.
The fee is conditional on workers agreeing in a ballot, and they can still negotiate individual conditions.
DHB spokesman Craig Climo said the boards did not want to get involved in talks between a sub-contractor and its employees but there were provisions for such pass-on payments in the Employment Relations Act.
The payments can be paid only after a ballot of union and non-unionised staff. Mr Climo said the union was yet to ratify the agreement between the union and DHBs.
Mr Russell said his company was against one multi-employer collective agreement (Meca) for the industry because it would destroy competition between four contractors in the sector.
The company had moved a long way in being prepared to consider a single-employer collective agreement for its workers because at present it had separate agreements at 17 sites.
- NZPA
