Fair Pay Agreements: Hospitality workers to make first application to start negotiations

Hospitality workers to apply to initiate a Fair Pay Agreement. Photo / Getty Images

Hospitality workers are expected to be the first group to apply to start negotiating a Fair Pay Agreement (FPA) with their employers.

Unite Union plans to submit paperwork with the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) today to get approval to start bargaining on behalf of hospitality workers.

The FPA Act, which also takes effect today, outlines a process for employers and employees to follow to negotiate baseline pay and working conditions.

Negotiations can only begin if the chief executive of MBIE is satisfied a minimum number (1000) or portion (10 per cent) of workers in an industry or occupation want to go to the bargaining table, or if a “public interest” test is met.

All employers and employees will fall under the agreement, including those who don’t want to be involved and those who aren’t union members.

Unite Union national secretary John Crocker said he had signatures from more than 1500 hospitality workers supportive of initiating an FPA.

Hospitality workers include those who work at restaurants, cafes, bars, accommodation providers, cinemas and theatres.

Crocker estimated around 80,000 to 100,000 people could be included in the proposed FPA.

First Union is also preparing to apply to MBIE to initiate negotiations on behalf of supermarket workers.

Its general secretary Dennis Maga said the union has the necessary number of signatures and plans to submit an application in coming weeks.

In the new year, First Union hopes to make another application on behalf of bus drivers.

The creation of FPAs is a key Labour Party policy.

The legislation, passed a month ago, was born out of recommendations made by a working group on FPAs, established in 2018 and chaired by a former National Party prime minister Jim Bolger.

The aim is to bring employers and employees together to improve baseline working conditions for a specified industry or occupation.

Business lobby groups and opposition political parties oppose FPAs, largely because of their compulsory nature.

Cleaners, security guards, and those who work in early childhood education are also expected to initiate FPAs.