There’s more going on in Parliament than Trevor’s canny cornering of the government today and the hilarious debate that followed. These things keep us amused, but I was just as happy to hear that Jaine Ikurere, who cleans John Key’s office is to get a payrise.
Thanks to the hard work of her union and the cleaners’ staunch support, Jaine’s pay will go up by 50 cents an hour to $13.10. It’s not the $14.62 that other cleaners get in the public sector, but there is provision for that to occur, should the client fund it.
The client, in Jaine’s case, is Parliamentary Services. That’s why Labour MPs wrote to the Speaker a few weeks ago. He’s the Minister in charge of Parliamentary Services and we want the budget for cleaning our offices to be increased by the small amount necessary to enable the contractor to pay them more.
We got the expected response. Very sympathetic, but the bargaining is between the union and the employer. The Speaker is not the employer and can’t get involved in negotiations. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
But the government can put more money into the parliamentary services budget and ring-fence it to fund a decent pay jolt for the lowest paid – just as Labour did for Hospital service workers and School Cleaners.
I’m pleased Jaine got a pay increase. She did it with her workmates and her union.
Now for the next $1.52 an hour.
That’s great and well deserved!
$1.90 an hour to $15 and 38 cents to $15 an hour?
yay
So Anne Tolley is going to stay out of the next round of union negotiations with teacher unions?
Tui that one.
Good on the cleaner’s and their union. Is the use of a contractor a way out of avoiding full employer responsibility, like some grape growers use contractors to avoid decent pay and conditions?
Obviously, it was sort of traditional for our SOE to sack workers and then hire contractors to do the work. The contractors not being bound by former awards.
Strange how the Labour govenrment of the 80′s betrayed the union movement – and led us down the path to lower wages than those across the ditch. Of course those who knew this would be the result ended up in the ACT party and the rest either retired or tried to be part of the recovery from that.
Final warning troll. Trevor
Good job!
As for Trolley – no way she is going to play nice come contract rounds – she reminds me of Cruella de Vil from 101 dalmations – a bit scary, not too smart and into power trips.
Can you post the letter that you got back from the speaker here please Darien?
Good on Jaine, but it simply ain’t enough. Perhaps the union could argue more pay for the respite cleaners give office workers who work late by providing real, decent and humourous converation between emptying rubbish bins? Worth ten times the minimum wage, at least.