Farmers workers protest ‘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 Smiths City.
This triggered 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 Farmers workers’ protest is the first of a series of pickets organised by First Union that will happen outside Farmers stores across the country in the coming weeks.