Downers workers take protest to Telecom

More than seventy Downer EDI workers protested outside of Telecom's Auckland and Christchurch main offices last Wednesday as part of their campaign to get higher wages.

They are putting pressure on Telecom to properly fund Downer, which is one of Telecom's two main contractors, for a collective agreement and a decent rise in their rates which are tens of thousands of dollars behind Australian rates.

EPMU organiser Kelvin Ellis says the protest sent a strong message to Telecom that it can't shirk responsibility for its workforce.

"Telecom's been playing its contractors off against each other for years to the point where there now isn't money available to pay broadband workers a fair rate, which is particularly galling for them when their skills are in high demand internationally and they can get fifty percent more just by crossing the ditch.

"At a time when massive rollout of fibre optic infrastructure is likely and when there's a huge shortage of people with the skills to do such a task it seems extremely short-sighted, if not irresponsible, of Telecom to continue to under-invest in a skilled workforce.

"The fact is no broadband can be rolled out without a skilled workforce to do it, and unless Telecom starts investing in wages these workers they're not going to be able to hold onto the skilled workforce they need."

The EPMU represents 50,000 New Zealand workers across 11 industries including 6000 in the telecommunications and electrical industry.

Photos from the rally can be found here.