Workers in limbo as bosses earn more

Hard-working staff are seen by many managers as a cost instead of an asset.

Unions say pay increases are overdue as worker anger rises at growing salary gap.

Many employees have been waiting too long for a pay increase, says Sam Huggard, secretary of the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions.

"The New Zealand economy is growing but real wages have not grown nearly as fast as they should have," says Huggard. "Workers are not getting a fair share."

Huggard says certain sectors are worse affected than others. "Healthcare workers' pay went up by only 0.7 per cent in the last year - these people are simply not being valued enough. These are the people who support us and our family members when we are at our most vulnerable, and they are being told they are of little value."

Huggard says workers the union has spoken to have said their patience is wearing thin. He suggested that employees join unions. "People often don't realise how bargaining collectively can make a big difference. Last year 98 per cent of people who bargained in a collective got some sort of pay rise. Just 48 per cent who went in it alone got a positive result.

"We are also seeing mixed messages from the Government, who are modelling for wage increases of over 3 per cent for coming years, but in the same breath are attempting to talk down expectations among public sector workers, who have already waited too long for a decent rise."

Many workers have had low to no pay increases in the past few years, Huggard says.

Huggard also says rising unemployment is unacceptable. "143,000 people are unemployed, up significantly on September. It is disturbing that the economy is not providing enough new jobs for those who want to work. New Zealand's ranking in the OECD for unemployment has fallen from 9th to 10th despite the strong economic growth compared to other OECD countries."

The wider jobless figure is at 256,800, little different from a year ago (257,100), and lack of hours for workers remained a problem, he says.

"There are also still 112,800 part-timers who need more hours, and for thousands of these people the hours they have are not enough to make ends meet. For many workers, it is not just wage levels, but overall take-home pay including the need for secure, reliable hours, that is the critical factor."

Huggard says there's a lot of rhetoric from employers claiming in a way that employment is charity. "Actually employees need to be properly valued and rewarded."

Spokesman for the Employers and Manufacturers Association (EMA) Gilbert Peterson says the CTU and EMA are looking at the same figures and they "are not bad at all".

"Inflation is below 1 per cent - and this creates a really positive increase in pay. Pay rates have increased by nearly 1 per cent. Of course this is not enough and it's not as much as it should be, but it's a real increase. We assess the real increase in wages at .9 per cent, it's in positive territory.

"To have wage movement significantly above the inflation rate is positive."

Huggard says static pay packages can bring on stress and anxiety.

The significant gap between managers and workers is part of that, he says.

Auckland's Dr Stress, John McEwan agrees. "Actually what we are looking at here is an advance in feudalism in the workplace," he says. "The so-called top people are getting increases at a high level while the bottom is being squeezed. The problem is people are seeing workers as a cost when actually they are the productive part of any business."

He says high-paid administrators are being asked to cut back the people who are actually doing the work.

"Something is very wrong here and it's stressful for people at the bottom. They're working harder, are stressed trying to survive and take care of their families while those at the top are getting more and more out of touch with their employees.

"I've heard some bizarre stories - such as the CEO who asked the employees to accept no salary increase and got them to accept the need to cut back because of bad business circumstances. Imagine their upset when their employer showed off his new $300,000 car the next day."

McEwan says the narcissistic mentality of some managers needs to be challenged. "I'm not saying all employers are like that - but those who are need to be stopped."

He says managers are being rewarded for cost cutting, not growth and advised employees who are working for companies with this attitude to look for an alternative company that looks after staff. "A smart company won't touch the people who are making the money. If you've got skills, go to the company that values you. Go to the opposition. The company you're in deserves to lose your expertise. I can assure you, they won't last long if they lose their best asset - their employees."

He also suggests that employees keep learning: "It's easy to get trapped as this is the first time in human history that we have to reinvent ourselves every 10 years. This is stressful, but we risk being left behind in a job that's no longer required if we don't."