Rest home worker protest gains loud support

March 1st, 2012
[by David Armstrong]

If the honks and blasts from vehicle horns is anything to go by, staff at Woodlands Rest Home have the support of the bulk of High Street users in their industrial action over the pay they receive from the home's owner, Oceania.

Protest organiser Carla Palmer

About 23 staff, some rostered on for work and others on a day off, this morning marched from Woodlands to the Museum forecourt and then waved placards and asked drivers to toot in support. This led to a pretty noisy but good-humoured hour in the busy main street.

Four other Oceania staff groups across the top of the South Island were striking for two hours after last week's latest round of mediation between unions and Oceania failed to resolve the dispute.

They were part of a nationwide strike, involving up to 1500 members of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) and the Service and Food Workers Union (SFWU) and affecting 20 rest homes, coming after eight months of bargaining.

Oceania are refusing to meet a staff claim for a 3.5 per cent cost of living increase. The unions are also concerned about cuts to overtime and the exclusion of staff on casual contracts from the collective which are also being proposed.

Oceania is offering a 3% pay rise over 15 months. The union says the reality is this was being offered at about 1.5 per cent per year over two years.

NZ Nurses Organisation's local representative and protest organiser Carla Palmer said staff will also strike on March 7th for a total of four hours, if a resolution was still not found. This would occur between 5am-7am, and 4pm-6pm. Nelson-based Oceania rest homes, Green Gables, Whareama and Otumarama, were also striking today.

Woodlands employs 55 staff in total, some part-time, and most of them are members of the Service and Food Workers Union. Their chants at the rally included "Pay us all a fair rate" and "Oceania, be fair to those who care".

David Wait of the NZNO told TV ONE's Breakfast programme that Oceania was prepared to pay for a cost of living increase.

"If our members were to say yes today they would get about 14 cents an hour increase, about 14 cents an hour later in the year and then 14 cents an hour next year," he said.

"They tell us that they don't have the money and they can't afford it, but what we know is that they're spending millions of dollars on new developments and they're planning to build 372 new aged care units in the next six years.

"So from our perspective they have the money, but they are choosing to spend it on buildings and not staff, which are actually the core of the business."

He said it is a hard job yet workers were being valued at only 11 cents above the minimum wage in many cases.

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