E tลซ has won its Employment Court case against LSG Sky Chefs for its exploitative use of labour hire workers.
LSG is the worldโs largest inflight airline catering company with a near monopoly on airline catering in New Zealand.
E tลซ took the case on behalf of Kamlesh Prasad and Liutofaga Tulai, who worked for LSG through labour hire firm, Solutions Personnel Limited, also trading as Blue Collar Limited.
The union asked the court to declare that the workersโ real employer is LSG Sky Chefs โ not the labour hire company – and the Employment Court agreed.
โThis is a huge victory for the labour hire workers at LSG,โ says E tลซ Assistant National Secretary, John Ryall.
โIt is also a victory for the growing number of workers who arenโt directly employed by the firms they work for and are deprived of their rights under New Zealand employment law,โ he says.
The court decision also recognises the exploitative nature of LSGโs use of labour hire, citing Ms Tulaiโs working week of up to 62 hours and noting at one point she worked 34 full days of work without a day off.
Both plaintiffs worked for years for minimum wage or just above, with no holiday, sick leave or Kiwisaver entitlements, and they had to pay their own ACC cover.
โThe Employment Court has recognised that the use of labour hire is a way to shift all the employment risk on to very vulnerable workers and to avoid employment obligations,โ says John.
Liutofaga Tulai who worked for LSG for six years before losing her job will be eligible for backpay, as will Mr Prasad whom the court has ruled is an employee.
John says the decision is also a big win for LSGโs unionised labour hire workers who are now entitled to the superior pay and conditions included in the LSG Collective Agreement
for directly employed workers.
E tลซ is now calling on the airline catering industry to get rid of labour hire completely and for all major airlines, including the national carrier, Air New Zealand, to take responsibility for this issue.
โA lot of people are being exploited by LSG and the airlines have to take some responsibility as a customer for the labour practices in their supply chains,โ says John.
E tลซ is also urging the Government to investigate the use of labour hire in New Zealand and consider ways to remedy the denial of basic employment rights for these workers.
Key points:
โข The victory for labour hire workers at LSG Sky Chefs is a victory for an increasing number of workers who work outside traditional forms of employment and are deprived of their rights under New Zealand employment legislation.
โข LSG has a near-monopoly of airline catering work in New Zealand and is the largest global airline catering company.
โข The Employment Court has recognized that the use of labour hire is a device for shifting all the employment risk on to very vulnerable workers and to avoid employment obligations. Therefore, it is exploitative.
โข The Employment Court has decided that the labour hire workers LSG uses are under the control of LSG for their day-to-day work and are therefore employees of LSG and not the labour hire company.
โข The judgement means that as employees of LSG, the labour hire workers who are union members are entitled to the superior pay rates and conditions in the union collective agreement of the directly-employed LSG workforce.
โข E tลซ calls on the airline catering industry to get rid of labour hire completely and for all the major airlines, including Government-owned Air New Zealand, to take responsibility for this issue.
โข E tลซ calls on the Government to set up an investigation into the use of labour hire in the NZ economy to look at ways of rectifying the denial of proper employment rights to these workers.