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Speaker 1: Kmart staff. How good is this set to become some

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Speaker 1: of the highest paid retail workers in the country. Roughly

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Speaker 1: two thousand, four hundred New Zealand Kmart employees will now

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Speaker 1: be receiving the living wage of twenty eight dollars ninety

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Speaker 1: five an hour. The wage applies to any employee with

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Speaker 1: the union or not who has worked at the company

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Speaker 1: for more than six months. Rud Hughes is the Worker's

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Speaker 1: first Union Deputy, rather the workers first Union Deputy Secretary

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Speaker 1: Secretary of Retail. Rud, you got a linking total mouthful.

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Speaker 1: You could chop that down. We But anyway, listen, how

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Speaker 1: hard did you guys have to fight for this result?

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Speaker 2: Look? It was you know, we spent six days at

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Speaker 2: the table. It was it was open dialogue and it

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Speaker 2: was it was how bargaining should take place. You know,

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Speaker 2: we're giving it you know, to and throwing and also

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Speaker 2: with both parties willing to concede on issues.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, but did you get it across the line by

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Speaker 1: reminding them they do this around the world, why weren't

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Speaker 1: they doing it here? Is that how it went?

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Speaker 2: That's exactly what we did. You know, they were looking

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Speaker 2: at a CPI increase and we said, look, you know,

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Speaker 2: if you're going to pay this around the world a

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Speaker 2: memorandum of understanding with Industrial the Global Union, you know,

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Speaker 2: you should be paying it in New Zealand. You know,

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Speaker 2: we have a living wage here. Meet it. And they

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Speaker 2: came to the party and so what was.

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Speaker 1: Their justification for doing it around the world but not here.

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Speaker 2: Well, they didn't really have a justification for it, which

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Speaker 2: is why they actually ended up agreeing.

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Speaker 1: To it, just getting away with it as long as

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Speaker 1: they could.

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Speaker 2: Well, you know, I mean that's part and part at

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Speaker 2: of the bargaining process. You know, big companies don't want

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Speaker 2: to pay much and we want to pay more.

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Speaker 1: Now, rud Why is it only for employees who've been

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Speaker 1: there for six months or more?

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Speaker 2: So that's the way it's been bargained over the last

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Speaker 2: since twenty twenty one, and it is something that we

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Speaker 2: tried to make right right from the get go. But

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Speaker 2: there is an element of the company wanting to be

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Speaker 2: sure that these people are going to stay in the

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Speaker 2: job and have proved themselves. And you know we weren't

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Speaker 2: completely against that.

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Speaker 1: Do you think other retailers are going to look at

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Speaker 1: this and start packing themselves a little bit?

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Speaker 2: Well, yeah, I really do. I think that, you know,

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Speaker 2: this is a this is a gold standard for us

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Speaker 2: in terms of retail cost co probably pay just slightly more,

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Speaker 2: but not much. But you know, in terms of other companies,

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Speaker 2: it's really a long way away. You know, I'll give

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Speaker 2: you an example. You know, the Farmers, which is a

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Speaker 2: venerable user an institution. They will pay if if we

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Speaker 2: get our bargaining agreed to it. And at the moment

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Speaker 2: it looks like our members are going to aren't going

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Speaker 2: to ratify that agreement. They would be only they'd be

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Speaker 2: getting three dollars less than what cam Art workers would

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Speaker 2: be doing that that's on the top rate. So and

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Speaker 2: you know, these these guys are going to come in,

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Speaker 2: they're going to be six months and then they're going

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Speaker 2: to be on the living wage. It came out, you know,

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Speaker 2: and it's it's it's not that they can't afford to

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Speaker 2: do it. We've asked for the you know, the details

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Speaker 2: of of their finances and they refuse to give them

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Speaker 2: to us. But you know, the Norman family themselves twenty

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Speaker 2: seventeen have gone from five hundred million net worth to

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Speaker 2: over a billion. The workers certainly haven't had that kind

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Speaker 2: of increase in their wages, and we're just asking for

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Speaker 2: you know, have a look at what kmar are doing.

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Speaker 2: You know, kmart have become incredibly profitable despite paying the

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Speaker 2: living wage.

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Speaker 1: Right, Thanks very much, Really appreciate your time. Rod Hughes,

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Speaker 1: Deputy Secretary of Retail. No, I'm not even going to try.

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Speaker 1: He's with First Union. For more from Hither Duplessy Allen Drive,

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