9-day fortnight saves first jobs

Fisher & Paykel Appliances staff had mixed reactions to the scheme with most happy to be staying in employment. Photo / Richard Robinson

Fisher & Paykel Appliances is introducing a 35-hour working week in a bid to save about 60 jobs.

The company said yesterday that the move had been negotiated with its Auckland refrigeration assembly workforce and the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU).

The arrangement would run for six months from April to September, and prevent what would have been about 60 redundancies, the company said.

Under the agreement, the 35-hour work week will be supplemented with an additional 3.5 hours' pay, made up from the Government's nine-day working fortnight scheme and an equivalent company contribution.

The remaining 1.5 hours a week could be taken as paid leave to ensure continuity of wage levels. As part of the scheme, employees would attend a company-funded in-house training programme to increase their skills for 3.5 hours each fortnight.

EPMU national secretary Andrew Little said the key to the arrangement was making sure workers received an employer top-up.

"As we said from the outset, to make the nine-day fortnight work we need employers to top it up and Fisher & Paykel Appliances have come to the table on that.

"It shows how important it is for employers and unions to work together in the face of the recession," Mr Little said.

Appliances chief executive John Bongard said the situation came about due to a recent decline of global demand, combined with the company entering its traditional off-peak manufacturing winter season.

"With the Government nine-day fortnight subsidy, assistance from our employees and the EPMU, along with a contribution from the company, we are able to retain the current staffing levels and avoid immediate redundancies."

The arrangement would be reviewed regularly and if demand increased normal working hours could return.

Tom Lola, who has worked for Fisher & Paykel for 28 years, welcomed the nine-day fortnight because it had kept his job safe.

Shaving five hours off his working fortnight would allow him to spend more time with his children, he said.

But another worker, who has been with the company for almost six years, said he would vote against the nine-day fortnight.

"I need to work 10 days, I have a mortgage to pay off."

The refrigeration worker, who did not want to be named, confirmed there was pressure from management, peers and families to vote for the terms of the change.

Another female worker who had been with the company for 17 years said she was just happy to have her job.

Many of her friends in other industries had been made redundant and were really struggling, she said.

This was the first major change she had seen at Fisher & Paykel and she said the company had been open about its financial situation.

But there was a lot of pressure to vote for the nine-day fortnight in order to safeguard the jobs of fellow workers, she said.

The five hours would be spread over the working fortnight, she said, so would not feel like a sudden allocation of spare time.

- NZPA