The mighty Unite Union is examining using the Fair Pay Agreements to start building a Hospo Union.
Hospo, which has a terrible reputation for abuse, desperately needs unionisation to protect workers, build better work conditions and push up wages.
Fair Pay Agreements allow whoever can sign up 1000 workers first to negotiate with the sector.
For too long we haven’t had professional Unions protecting workers in Hospo, Unite could be that professional Union.
What is most fascinating however is the sudden realisation by the Unions what the FPA could actually do.
Most Unions are very self involved and simply dependent on Public Sector workers immediately joining, Unite has always had to work to recruit workers in Fast Food because the turn over is so high.
If FPAs are legalised, then there will be a gold rush in Union recruitment to gain the most market share.
This is going to be interesting.
Back in the good old days before the Individual Contracts Act, Unions often clashed over who could claim turf wars.
These days, it’s mostly the Professional Managerial Class in Wellington who run the union movement and they are all far too young to remember those wars, what the FPAs open things up to is a mad scramble for dominance of various sectors.
Unite Union are firing the first shots that they intend to be serious players in the new FPA world.
All power to their arm. This will be the new political battleground and whoever gets dominate first, gets to make the rules.
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With our political parties all being neo-capitalist enablers and being run by business lobbyists our unions should, more than ever, be truly independent. Then we could get some semblance of a working class having real inputs into wages and conditions without the inevitable trade-offs.
More power to the workers!
An ideal situation would be compulsory membership of independent Unions with clear rules, demarcations and responsibilities. Top managers voted into their roles by members. Fees start low for young ones or pegged to income level. Benefit schemes such as welfare provisions.
It’s what a benign and caring government would have in place. Especially a Left leaning one that has been in power for 5 years.
But wait, not enough nurses, houses, teachers, corrections officers and never mind all the other crap. More power to the workers!
What about the increasingly hysterical Chloe Ann-King’s raise the bar hospo union? Or is that a write off because she tends to blame all white men for the ills of the world? #NotAllMen
Due to chronic staff shortages I’m not sure the workforce will support having a union.
Shortages due to not paying staff their worth. Even employees have to think about a profit margin otherwise a job just isnt worth doing. Hospo employers created this problem themselves through their own greed.
The right dont want us unionising, its why they introduced the Contracts Act.
They want us paid the least possible so their mates can make windfall profits.
They want to fill those jobs with migrants who dont have a leg to stand on and are easily gotten rid of.
NZ might be the best place in the world to do business but its also one of the worst to be employed in.