Workers want their wages

23.02.2007
LAWRENCE GULLERY
The Department of Labour has been called in to find out why a group of workers employed through Allied Workforce at Heinz-Wattie's had not been paid last week.

The Service and Food Workers Union had asked the Department of Labour to initiate immediate mediation between Allied Workforce and its employees based at the Hastings plant.

It was understood the mediation session was to be held on site in Hastings on Tuesday but Allied Workforce had refused to agree to the meeting.

Mediation was called for after workers had complained to their union representative that their wages had not been paid into their bank accounts on February 15.





Union organiser Thomas O'Neill said yesterday he was still collecting names of those who had not been paid last week. "There are a lot of others who at one time or another weren't paid by Allied Workforce in the past as well," he said.
He hoped the mediation would reveal why the workers were not paid as Allied Workforce had not responded to his attempts to contact the labour contract firm last week.

Mr O'Neil said the mediation process also marked the first step for possible litigation against Allied Workforce, if a resolution could not be met.

"We understand that they (Allied Workforce) had told staff they wouldn't be paid by that week but they would be paid by cheque, but haven't. It's an employment breach of their rights," he said.

"I think people are pretty upset about it because there are a lot of people in Hastings that are dependent on their jobs," he said.

Allied Workforce chief executive Greg Webster said he was aware of the mediation session but believed it was not necessary.

He was adamant all of the workers had been paid. Mr Webster said 36 new workers had been called in at late notice for the evening shift on Sunday, February 11. The problem occurred because there was not enough time to process their wages before the payroll was normally completed the following Tuesday.

He said those workers were told they would be paid by cheque instead, on Thursday, but there were at least six people who were yet to pick up their cheques from Allied Workforce.

Mr Webster said paying workers by cheque was not normal practice and a "one-off" resolution.

One worker, who did not want to be named, said she had no luck gleaning an explanation as to why she had not been paid for her first week working at Heinz-Wattie's, from February 12 to 16. Mr Webster said he was aware there was one "outstanding issue" involving a worker who had not been paid. "She says she was at work but her swipe card indicates she was not.

"It's a matter of getting her supervisor to verify she was at work that day, but at the moment we can't do that, it's a process we have to work through to clarify she was there," he said.

The worker said she had been told at an induction session three weeks ago at Heinz-Wattie's there would be enough continuous work for everyone to April.

"I've been off work this week because they haven't called me, you have to wait until they ring you to come into work. My last day was last Friday," she said.

Mr Webster said, however, workers were told during induction that the nature of the work available was casual.

"You could be working one day and not the next. The tomato season has been put off four times already. It's very casual work, that is the nature of seasonal work," he said.