Ikea staff in Auckland to strike for first time over lack of weekend rates

About 300 Ikea workers are set to strike fo the first time on Saturday.Workers First Union deputy secretary Rudd Hughes said the staff wanted to be given pay increases that kept up with inflation and time-and-a-half at the weekend.He said Ikea had been given credit when it arrived in New Zealand for paying staff living wage."Now they've kind of stepped back from that saying well we never guaranteed it. It was always just a happy coincidence… so the current pay offer they've got on the table is less than CPI so we see that as a pay cut."He said Ikea's Australian staff were paid overtime rates."What we're asking for even at weekend rate sis les than what they get in Australia which is double time."He said Ikea argued they had a legal mandate to pay overtime in Australia."What they are saying is that 'New Zealanders are second-class citizens and we're going to treat them worse than we treat our Australian workers'. We're not happy with that."Ikea has been approached for comment."Ikea came to this country trumpeting their 'progressive' attitude concerning industrial relations, but talk is cheap and so is their offer to workers," Hughes said."Retail workers deserve to be recognised for the work they do, and weekend work should attract a top rate because of the time people have to spend away from their families and friends to earn their wages."Ikea need to step up and show they value New Zealand workers in the same way they value Aussie workers."He said retail in general was a tough environment for workers."Retail is incredibly poorly paid in this country. You can live on a retail wage in Australia, you cannot live on it here. Part of that is aroudn the fact that people get overtime, get penal rates on the weekends."Sign up for Money with Susan Edmunds , a weekly newsletter covering all the things that affect how we make and spend money.