Nelmac workers walk off in protest
More than 50 Nelmac employees walked off the job yesterday in a dispute over pay and conditions.
Members of the Reunited Employees Association (REA) at Nelmac, the 100 per cent Nelson City Council organisation which provides services like water network maintenance and landscaping for the NCC and businesses, formed picket lines in Tahunanui, Richmond and Motueka for three hours yesterday morning.
The protesters had to work long hours with low pay, and were ‘‘expressing their dismay’’ about delays to negotiations on wages and conditions, REA secretary John Drummond said.
‘‘We have been trying to settle a [Collective Employment] contract with Nelmac since July last year ... In December, Nelmac ceased negotiating with us, unless we could have a mediator present.’’
Drummond claimed that Nelmac was deliberately stalling.
‘‘We’re set down to meet again on the 19th, but we are not happy about waiting that long because ... at the end of June this year, that contract no longer exists. So we’d be right back to square one, where we have to start negotiating a whole new collective agreement.’’
Drummond said the strike was an act of ‘‘sheer desperation’’ over delays to talks.
Nelmac chief executive Lee Babe rejected the claim, saying the company had been seeking to engage with the union in good faith for the renewal of the contract since May 2017.
‘‘We are working alongside a Government-appointed mediator to continue bargaining ... and are committed to getting a resolution.’’
The protesters represented a quarter of the workforce, he said.
The company had successfully concluded negotiations with its other union (the Central Amalgamated Workers Union) backdating wage increases to July 1st 2017, Babe said.
REA members planned another strike for next Tuesday if the talks were not brought forward before April 19.
The 19th was the soonest the mediator could meet, but Nelmac had reserved the right to settle in the interim, Babe said.