22 November 2008
Union flags top Auckland’s prime real estate
30 March 2007
By Joseph Barratt: Te Waha Nui Online
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Red flags from Unite, one of New Zealand’s smallest – but most dynamic – trade unions, are now fluttering over some of the most prime real estate in the country.
The fast-growing Unite union recently celebrated the opening of their new offices on the 12th floor at 300 Queen St in the heart of downtown Auckland.
The celebration also marked the renaming of the building as Unite House, and it saw the opening of a free computer literacy course.
This is the same building that houses AUT’s Faculty of Design and Creative Technologies.
“The move is great and really quite ironic – a community-based union on the top of prime real estate,” says Ivan Sowry, a coordinator and policy convenor of the Green Party.
Unite covers a wide range of industries and workers from any sector can join.
The union has gained strength in fast food and other service industries where workers are typically on low wages.
Unite has made headlines in recent years as the organiser of the supersizemypay.com campaign, aimed at increasing wages in the fast food sector.
Senior organiser Mike Treen says the past four years since Unite was launched in Auckland has “been a topsy turvy ride”.
But he admits it has taken longer than he thought to achieve what it has.
Unite has put in a lot of hard work to become such a strong union - and now it has “signalled ‘yes’ we have arrived”, says Treen.
Recent research by Victoria University shows union membership is on the rise with an increase by 23,290 in 2005, making union density the highest it has been since 1998.
As the fastest growing union, Unite owes its successes to a number of factors - such as an activist campaign style, the current economic situation and taking advantage of union rights, says Treen.
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Both Treen and secretary Matt McCarten are experienced campaign organisers.
McCarten was former president of the political party Alliance in government and Treen has been highly involved in social activism since high school.
The economic situation means “workers don’t have to be afraid to stick their heads out”, says McCarten.
While there are lots of jobs and many of them pay low wages, it means workers could act in more confidence - if they lose their job, they can get another low wage job.
Treen also believes the workers have been able to effectively use their rights under the 2001 Employment Relations Act.
The Act opened up access to work places by allowing unions to go into businesses to recruit new members.
“Research shows that more workers would join a union if they were asked,” Treen says. “So we recruit by going in and talking to the workers, not through mass meetings.
“We give them the chance to have a voice. Workers have a right to dignity and respect.”
With the opening of Unite House, the union has also officially launched a new computer literacy programme offering computer training and computer skills to low income workers.
“When I started I didn’t even really know how to turn it on” says student Beth Marie Down.
“Slowly I’m learning. In today’s society you really need computer skills.”
Links:
- Unite Workers Federation
