KEY POINTS:
Ken Wilkins isn't happy. The 53-year-old refrigeration and air-conditioning engineer has been with his employer, Christchurch company Piersons, for 22 years, and his loyalty's been rewarded, in part, with an extra week's holiday.
But now that new annual leave provisions entitle everyone to four weeks' holiday, Wilkins reckons he, too, should get an extra week of annual leave.
Tomorrow, he says, "Joe Bloggs could walk in here and get four weeks straight off. Where does that leave loyalty?"
The metals contract that covers most of the workers at Piersons expires on Thursday.
The union is pushing for a 5 per cent wage rise plus an extra week's leave for long service.
Employers have agreed to an extra week for shift workers and, according to Wilkins, are likely to agree to the 5 per cent, "but I can see the leave thing being a problem".
"I've been a delegate [at Piersons] since 1991, and in that time negotiations have only ever gone on longer than three days twice.
"That's a pretty good indication that both sides have a degree of good faith - they usually come to a compromise somewhere along the line, but this one might be different."
Wilkins already belongs to an employer-subsidised superannuation scheme but he is now considering opting in to the KiwiSaver scheme.
Hourly rates for refrigeration and air-conditioning engineers range from $18-$30.
Pay rates for the sector increased 4.2 per cent last year, and 5 per cent in 2005, although Wilkins says there are various remuneration packages available, some including company vehicles and lucrative penal rates.
