“I wish that we could have got to that point earlier rather than going through the whole process of striking.” The deal provides funds for extra bereavement and sick leave and there’s also a commitment to increase guaranteed hours, which had fallen so low workers said they struggled to “live decent lives”. Taufa said she hoped this marked the beginning of a more transparent relationship between Lifewise and its employees, where issues could be discussed in the open.
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Lifewise homecare support worker and E tū delegate Helen Taufa says the long fight was worth it. Union director Kirsty McCully said bereavement leave was especially important to the workforce, who were largely in their 50s and at a stage of life where bereavements weren’t uncommon.
By Patrick Brown February 8, 2021
AUCKLAND, New Zealand Dozens of home-care workers and their supporters picketed Lifewise services here Jan. 23 against the employer’s attacks on hours and wages and in support of the workers’ demand for a union contract.
The E Tu union action helped kick off a three-day strike. The workers are protesting the bosses’ notice of a two-week February lockout, targeting the 78 union members who took part in six days of strike action in December and earlier this month.
Lifewise services, a division of the Methodist Church, employs 100 workers who provide care for the elderly and disabled in their homes.
Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and the Pacific
22 January 2021
Chinese healthcare workers protest over wage arrears
On January 16, hundreds of doctors, nurses and healthcare workers at Suixian Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Henan Province marched to the local government building, demanding unpaid salaries. Many of them have not received any pay for months. The government responded by arresting more than 20 healthcare workers.
The hospital has stopped paying bonuses and merit-pays since May 2019. Management kept deducting pensions and insurances from employees’ salaries but these amounts were never used to pay for actual pensions and insurances. One doctor said he has only received the full amount of his monthly salary once in the past two years.
Friday, 22 January 2021, 4:32 pm
Lifewise homecare support workers are continuing their
fight for better working conditions, even as they now face a
possible lockout from their employer in response to their
strike action and pickets.
From Saturday, members will
be going ahead with more strike and picket action, outside
the Lifewise offices in Mount Eden.
Lifewise, an
Auckland-based organisation which is also part of the
Methodist Church, has issued a lockout notice to all E tū
Lifewise members.
For more than a year and a half,
Lifewise members, who care for vulnerable Kiwis including
seniors and those living with disability, have been trying