“I want to thank the thousands of workers who put aside time, effort and money to collaborate on the development of the FPA model. Your work has not been wasted, and all options for future negotiations and bargaining models will be on the table in the new year,” said Dennis Maga, FIRST Union General Secretary.
“Through the FPA process, our strength and solidarity has been cemented and workers from disparate industries – supermarket workers, bus drivers, security officers and cleaners – have come together and shown what’s possible for the future of work in Aotearoa.”
Mr Maga said that nationwide FPA meetings held on Wednesday with supermarket workers revealed that many are feeling anxious about the news during a cost of living crisis and were keen to share their frustration and thoughts on the next steps for the industry and supermarket duopoly.
“The new Government is terrified of worker power and has acted desperately and despotically to limit scrutiny and end a collaborative process that has taken years to negotiate,” said Mr Maga.
“The use of urgency and a suspension of normal Parliamentary process to get this done before Christmas reveals both the callousness of the Government and their ignorance of the actual consequences of ending FPAs.”
“Employers can look forward to higher staff turnover, more industrial action in workplaces, and ultimately lower productivity across entire industries. Politicians can look forward to more migration to Australia, more unemployment and some very energised and galvanised unions who will not stop fighting for fair pay for the rest of their term in Parliament.”
“The new Government is revealing their contempt for the same people they called ‘heroes’ and ‘essential workers’ during the pandemic and signaling that the supermarket duopoly’s excessive profitability should continue as normal.”
“If there was a 90-day trial period for the new Government on whether they’re actually capable of making life better for the people of the country who elected them, they would fail and be sacked before Christmas.”
“When someone tells you who they are, you should listen: this is a Government for bosses, lobbyists, shareholders and the rest of the greedy elite.”
“This is an unprecedented redistribution of wealth and power from some of the worst-off in society to some of the richest and most powerful – workers will not forget it.”
