Work Rights Wage Drive kicks off in Christchurch

5 August, 2008

The EPMU's Work Rights Wage Drive kicked off in Christchurch on Friday with more than 1500 union members braving bitter weather to rally for stronger work rights and higher wages.

The Christchurch event was the first of 25 EPMU-organised Wage Drive rallies to be held this month and was also the launch of the union's Work Rights Checklist, which states the rights needed to ensure New Zealand workers continue to get decent wage rises.

As EPMU News was going to press around 120 members were heading to the Invercargill Racecourse for the second rally. From there the roadshow heads to Dunedin, Oamaru and Timaru, over to the West Coast, through Nelson and Blenheim and then across Cook Strait for the tour's North Island leg.

EPMU national secretary Andrew Little says the Wage Drive and the Work Rights Checklist are about making sure working New Zealanders understand how important their work rights are.

"Work Rights are some of the most important rights we have. They include the right to belong to a union, the right to negotiate on a collective basis with employers and protections against unfair and arbitrary treatment by employers.

In this way our work rights provide the legal foundation all Kiwi workers need to secure fair wages and a decent way of life for themselves and their families.

"We're calling on all political parties to recognise this fact and to guarantee they will maintain and strengthen current work rights to ensure New Zealand workers can keep up with the rising cost of living and start getting ahead together." 

For more information about the Work Rights Wage Drive, including a full schedule of the tour, visit www.workrights.org.nz or call the Union Support Centre on 0800 1 UNION (0800 186 466). Photos of the rally are available at the EPMU's flickr site.