The union representing the country's cleaners says an agreement reached this week to for the industry to be covered by Fair Pay Agreements is a game changer.
The cleaning sector, one of the lowest paid in Aotearoa, is the fifth to be approved by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) under the FPA legislation introduced by the government last year. Shane Pasene says it's the result of a 'hard slog' over the past four years by the unions and its members, but now the path is clear to gain sector-wide standards and conditions.
"So this is a big game changer for workers in that they're not having to deal with individual companies or smaller groups. We can focus right across the cleaning industry."
Historic underpayment of cleaners has meant cleaning companies compete for contracts, which drives down pay and conditions – the exact problem the Fair Pay Agreements Act 2022 was passed to address.
"What we've found within E Tū Union is that a lot of the time with cleaners, the contracts were minimum standard ones. So for example, with the minimum wage, being what it is at the moment, there isn't much leverage, or many offers from employers to increase that. And this is at the heart for the cleaners, and they all know that they struggle with the cost of living.
"With an FPA, we're hoping that we can raise those standards, we can raise those thresholds from not being a minimum wage, to a living wage. When we look at the work that cleaners do, they're undervalued. And it's a struggle for them every day to meet the costs. And with the Fair Pay Agreement, we will be looking to start improving the lot of workers not just in pay, but in terms and conditions as well."
Pasene says those conditions include hours of work and leave provisions.
"A lot of the time workers who are in cleaning, they are working long hours just to make ends meet because of the low, low pay. The other conditions around leave, sick leave, bereavement leave, annual leave, all of these things can be improved to help with that life balance for cleaners.
"They are the ones at night time when everyone goes home to sleep, it's the cleaners who are out there doing that mahi, so we want to see that their value is respected in what they do."
E Tū and the large cleaning companies started negotiations almost immediately after MBIE CEO, Carolyn Tremain issued the approval on Wednesday.
