Latest / Best of Business / Rudd Hughes: Deputy Secretary of Retail at Workers First Union on Kmart staff receiving a new 2-year pay deal

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Rudd Hughes: Deputy Secretary of Retail at Workers First Union on Kmart staff receiving a new 2-year pay deal · Best of Business

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from News Talks'd be follow
• 0:12
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• 0:16
  Speaker 2: Kmart staff, how good is this? Set to become some
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  Speaker 2: of the highest paid retail workers in the country. Roughly
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  Speaker 2: two thy four hundred New Zealand Kmart employees will now
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  Speaker 2: be receiving the living wage of twenty eight dollars ninety
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  Speaker 2: five an hour. The wage applies to any employee with
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  Speaker 2: the union or not who has worked at the company
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  Speaker 2: for more than six months. Rud Hughes is the Worker's
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  Speaker 2: first Union Deputy, rather the workers First Union Deputy Secretary
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  Speaker 2: Secretary of Retail. Rud, you got a linking total. You
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  Speaker 2: could chop that down a wee bit. Anyway, listen, how
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  Speaker 2: hard did you guys have to fight for this result?
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  Speaker 3: Look? It was you know, we spent six days at
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  Speaker 3: the table. It was it was open dialogue and it
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  Speaker 3: was it was how bargaining should take place. You know,
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  Speaker 3: we're giving it, you know, to and throwing and also
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  Speaker 3: with both parties willing to concede on issues.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, but did you get it across the line by
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  Speaker 2: reminding them they do this around the world. Why weren't
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  Speaker 2: they doing it here?
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  Speaker 3: Is that?
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  Speaker 1: How it?
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  Speaker 3: That's exactly what we did. You know, they were looking
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  Speaker 3: at a CPI increase and we said, look, you know,
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  Speaker 3: if you're going to pay this around the world, they've
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  Speaker 3: got a memorandum of understanding with Industrial the Global Union.
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  Speaker 3: You know, you should be paying it in New Zealand.
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  Speaker 3: You know, we have a living wage here. Meet it.
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  Speaker 3: And they came to the party and so what was.
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  Speaker 2: Their justification for doing it around the world but not here.
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  Speaker 3: Well, they didn't really have a justification for it, which
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  Speaker 3: is why they actually ended up agreeing.
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  Speaker 2: To it, just getting away with it as long as
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  Speaker 2: they could.
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  Speaker 3: Well, you know, I mean that's part and part of
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  Speaker 3: the bargaining process. You know, big companies don't want to
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  Speaker 3: pay much and we want to pay more.
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  Speaker 2: Now, rud Why is it only for employees who've been
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  Speaker 2: there for six months or more.
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  Speaker 3: So that's the way it's been bargained over the last
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  Speaker 3: since twenty twenty one, and it is something that we
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  Speaker 3: tried to make right know, right from the get go.
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  Speaker 3: But there is an element of the company wanting to
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  Speaker 3: be sure that these people are going to stay in
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  Speaker 3: the job and have proved themselves. And you know, we
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  Speaker 3: weren't completely against that.
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  Speaker 2: Do you think other retailers are going to look at
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  Speaker 2: this and stop packing themselves a little bit?
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  Speaker 3: Well, yeah, I do, I really do. I think that.
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  Speaker 3: You know, this is a this is a gold standard
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  Speaker 3: for us in terms of retail costco probably pay just
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  Speaker 3: slightly more, but not much. But you know, in terms
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  Speaker 3: of other companies, it's really a long way away. You know,
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  Speaker 3: I'll give you an example. You know, the Farmers which
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  Speaker 3: is a venerable user an institution. They will pay if
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  Speaker 3: if we get our bargaining agree to it. And at
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  Speaker 3: the moment, it looks like our members are going to
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  Speaker 3: aren't going to ratify that agreement. They would be only
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  Speaker 3: they'd be getting three dollars less than what kmart workers
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  Speaker 3: would be doing that that's on the top rate. So
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  Speaker 3: and you know, these these guys are going to come in,
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  Speaker 3: they're going to be six months and then they're going
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  Speaker 3: to be on the living wage. It came out, you know,
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  Speaker 3: and it's it's it's not that they can't afford to
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  Speaker 3: do it. We've asked for the you know, the details
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  Speaker 3: of their finances and they've refused to give them to us.
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  Speaker 3: But you know, the Norman family themselves since twenty seventeen
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  Speaker 3: have gone from five hundred million networth to over a billion.
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  Speaker 3: The workers certainly haven't had that kind of increase in
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  Speaker 3: their wages, and we're just asking for you know, have
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  Speaker 3: a look at what kmar are doing. You know, kmart
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  Speaker 3: have become incredibly profitable despite paying the living wage.
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  Speaker 2: Right, Thanks very much, Really appreciate your time. Rod Hughes,
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  Speaker 2: Deputy Secretary of Retail. No, I'm not even going to try.
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  Speaker 2: He's with First Union.
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