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ANZ workers on strike tomorrow across New Zealand

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ANZ workers on strike tomorrow across New Zealand Thursday, October 9, 2014 FIRST Union members from several ANZ locations across the country will be on strike tomorrow, speaking out against bank proposals that would be highly disruptive to family life. Following member meetings where 96% rejected the banks latest offer, ANZ workers in Auckland, Hamilton, Palmerston North, Wellington, Christchurch, Oamaru and Dunedin will be on strike and attending attend pickets, rallies and marches, and workers in many other places will walk off the job tomorrow.
Workers’ key concern was a proposal from ANZ for more ‘flexibility’ that would leave some staff not having predictable days, start and finish times they could rely on, said Maxine Gay, Retail and Finance Secretary, FIRST Union. “The bank likes to position itself as being part of our community through its volunteer and corporate sponsorship programmes.” “Yet ANZ is actively promoting a proposal which would leave bank workers with jobs that they cannot plan their lives around, by chopping and changing their days and start times month by month.” “I’d like David Hisco to come down from his office tomorrow and tell members of our union why he thinks an ANZ staff member with dependant children needs to be put through the stress of having their days and hours changed every month.” “Or why a staff member undertaking study, or who is committed to a not-for-profit group, cannot make reliable commitments to these pursuits.” Maxine Gay said that ANZ workers have been prepared to allow up to 20% of the workforce to be flexible, but ANZ wanted every new worker to start on the insecure work contract. She said that FIRST Union members at ANZ remained committed to concluding negotiations for a renewed employment agreement, but said that ANZ needed to show its workers some respect and offer a decent wage increase and pull back from its plan to reduce job