Christchurch line engineers rally outside Orion

Christchurch power line engineers in the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU) held a one hour stop work meeting and rally at 8.30am on 6 August outside Orion Group Ltd to support their claim for a 5% pay rise.

EPMU national secretary Andrew Little spoke to around 100 members employed by Connetics, the main contracting company for Orion's Canterbury power network, who attended the rally carrying placards saying "Fair Wages Now", "Where's the Money?" and "Don't Cut My Pay".

"Last year EPMU members at Connetics received a 2% pay increase and this year they have only been offered 1.6%, below the annual rate of inflation," said Andrew Little.

"The 1.6% pay rise on offer is, in effect, a pay cut for our members because inflation is set to rise to 6% next year and GST will go up by 2.5% after 1 October," he said.

"Our members want Orion to know they won't accept the paltry pay offer they've made because it's demonstrably unfair," he said.

"Orion owns one of the top performing networks in the country. In recent years Connetics has returned very high returns to Orion in excess of 15% per annum. Orion itself has consistently performed well, returning a stable profit year to year, this year returning $46 million."

"Orion will also benefit from the cut in company tax the government handed them in the 2010 Budget so we know they can afford to pay more."

"Nothing in the current economic conditions justifies workers having to take what amounts to a pay cut from employers. We need to see real improvements in wages if workers are to avoid a decline in their standard of living and we are to start closing the gap with Australia."

150 Connetics line engineers maintain the power line network across Christchurch and the Canterbury region, 120 of which are EPMU members.

Orion Group Ltd is owned by Christchurch City Council (89.3%) and Selwyn District Council (10.7%) through holding companies.

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