Farmers workers fight ‘unfair’ pay

Retail workers from First Union picketed the Farmers store in central Auckland yesterday, calling for higher wages and a fairer performance review system.

The workers claim the department store chain is keeping wages low by pegging pay rises to employee performance, and then routinely assessing good workers’ performance as poor.

‘‘Farmers’ workers typically start on or near the minimum wage [$16.50]. For most roles the pay scale ends around $17.50 and any pay increases from there are only obtained through performance pay reviews,’’ union retail secretary Tali Williams said.

‘‘Farmers [union] members believe the performance pay review system is unfair.

‘‘One such worker received multiple certificates with glowing reviews praising his customer service skills yet his latest performance review resulted in a C grade despite all his efforts. Over half of Farmers members are on this grade or lower.’’

Farmers was approached for comment and said it was preparing a statement on First Union’s claims.

Williams says workers want Farmers to phase out the performance pay system that holds wages down, and to pay their workers a living wage.

‘‘We realise this cannot happen overnight, but for ethics’ sake it should be removed. How can they tout their brand as a family’s brand when at the same time their abysmal pay is causing many families to struggle?’’

There’s been a retail workers uprising following an Employment Court decision that Smiths City had to compensate staff for years of requiring them to attend sales meetings that were unpaid, covering topics ranging from sales targets to promotions.

The meetings and the time was not recorded as hours worked, resulting in some staff members not receiving the minimum wage once the extra 15 minutes was taken into account.

The company argued the meetings were not compulsory and no disciplinary action was taken against staff for not attending them, but the Employment Court ruled against them, triggering a flood of complaints from workers at retail chains including Countdown, Pak’n Save, Kmart, The Warehouse, Noel Leeming, Farmers, Whitcoulls, Cotton On Group, Briscoe Group and Harvey Norman.

Some, including Farmers, have responded, said First Union’s Alicia Burrow. The retailer has sent reminders to all store managers not to require unpaid overtime from staff.

Retail workers and their supporters will be making a statement in the centre of Auckland’s bustling Queen St today about pay and performance conditions.

The Auckland protest is the first of a series organised by First Union that will happen outside Farmers stores across the country in the coming weeks. Just over 3 per cent of houses sold or transferred in the March quarter went to foreigners, Statistics New Zealand data shows.

Of the properties which transferred to new ownership in the three months, 3.3 per cent went to people who were not citizens or residents, up from 2.9 per cent in December.

That includes not just sales but transfers of ownership due to a death, marriage settlement or other administrative changes.

Nearly 33,000 homes were transferred in the March 2018 quarter. Almost four in five were transferred to at least one New Zealand citizen.

The others went to corporate entities, resident-visa holders, and overseas people.

In the March 2018 quarter, nearly 10 per cent of all home transfers were to corporate entities, excluding most trusts. Information on the ownership of these entities is not currently available. Energy Minister Megan Woods is playing down the risk of litigation over a ban on new offshore exploration permits, saying legal advice backs the decision.

Rumours have been circulating for weeks that the industry may take legal action over the April 12 announcement, with speculation mounting when industry publication Upstream published a report, quoting unnamed sources, claiming offshore seismic operators were considering a challenge.

Under the Crown Minerals Act, the Government has an obligation to promote exploration, as a means of creating a stable investment environment, but Woods said the decision to offer new onshore permits in Taranaki for the next three years covered that obligation.

The act did not define the block offer process, or set out