Christchurch City council pays nearly $3m to underpaid staff

Christchurch City Council is paying out $2.7 million to more than 700 unionised employees paid less than their colleagues.

The council reached an agreement with unions last year to address pay inequity between unionised and non-unionised staff. It confirmed the total backpay figure on Friday.

PSA union members received a lump sum payment two months ago, but The Press understands E tū and Amalgamated Workers Union (AWUNZ) members are still waiting to be paid.

Scott Bradley, an organiser for AWUNZ, said its union members ratified a new collective agreement with the council in mid-January. He said the vote was unanimous and members were happy, as the council was increasing their wages to align with their non-union counterparts in similar positions.

Bradley declined to share the wage details for 80 or so affected AWUNZ members until they had been paid, which he believed was imminent. According to the council, the minimum increase to wages for PSA members was 8.4%. Some 82 people saw an increase of 20% or more, and six got over 30%. The highest increase was 45.5%.

Multiple union members received tens of thousands of dollars in backpay, and now earn similar rates to colleagues on individual contracts.

Rachel Wells, the council’s acting head of people and culture, said in December the pay gap had widened after 18 months of significant increases to market rates and the living wage.

PSA organiser Adrian Mealing said the same month that in one case the council had listed a vacancy with salary expectations for someone not in a union tens of thousands of dollars higher than someone who had joined one.

He previously described the relationship between the council and the union as “a little bit obstructive and divisive”.

The E tū union also has members who work at the city council, but neither the union nor council responded to a request for an update.