Sthn Strike Action Planned In Presbyterian Support

17 October 2005

Southern Strike Action Planned In Presbyterian Support

Members of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation and the Service and Food Workers Union employed by Presbyterian Support in the South Island have voted to strike after PSS rejected a union settlement deal.

The 380 PSS workers from hospitals and rest homes across Southland, Otago and South Canterbury will strike this Thursday after pay talks ended with no settlement in sight.

The workers will strike from 7am to 11am and again from 3pm to 7pm on 20 October. The strike will impact on fourteen hospital and rest homes from Timaru to Invercargill.

NZNO advocate Lorraine Lobb said pay talks finished on Friday night with the employer rejecting a union plan for settlement and refusing to set of date for further talks.

“The employers failed to agree to a union proposal that would have meant a modest pay rise immediately and the guarantee that any increased government funding would be passed on to their employees,”she said.

“That left us with no choice but to proceed with the strike action.

Lorraine Lobb said a sticking point of the talks had been the refusal of the three employers to guarantee a “pass on” of government funding and the employers’insistence on no more pay talks until late next year.

“Presbyterian Support’s pay offer is out of step with other significant settlements in the sector and their refusal to reach into their own pockets is a sad indictment of a faith based organisation,”she said.

ENDS

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