Up to 850 Bunnings workers to strike this week

• Workers from 21 stores met at 11am and voted to strike for the day;
• This is the largest strike in the retail sector this year and disruption for Christmas shoppers is expected;
• Workers from 7 stores in the lower North Island to meet on Friday.

As Bunnings and FIRST Union meet for mediation at the Employment Relations Authority in Auckland, up to 850 Bunnings workers from across the country have voted for strike action in what is the largest retail strike of the year.

“The workers at Bunnings are sending a very clear message: they want a fair say over their rosters,” said FIRST Union Retail and Finance Secretary Maxine Gay.

“Under the current collective agreement roster changes must be made with ‘mutual agreement’ between managers and workers. But Bunnings CEO Jacqui Coombes wants to hand managers the power to impose rosters on the workforce.”

“This means rosters could chop and change with very little notice. How are you meant to plan for family time over the Christmas season when your rosters can change just like that,” asked Gay.

“For working people family comes first, that’s why up to 850 Bunnings workers are striking. Working people should not be denied the right to have a fair say over their roster.”

“We’re asking shoppers to let Bunnings CEO Jacqui Coombes know that family time is non-negotiable,” says Gay.

The nationwide strike follows a national strike in September, a store shut down at Bunnings New Lynn, rolling strikes at individual stores from September to December, a nomination for the Roger Award for the Worst Transnational Company Operating in New Zealand and a letter to Jacqui Coombes from Members of Parliament urging her to settle an agreement.

ENDS

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