New Zealand Chemical Workers On Strike Against US-based Ecolab

A US-based company has provoked a strike in New Zealand because it has refused to join Multi-Employer Collective Agreement for the Metals Industry. Members of ICEM affiliate Engineering, Printing, and Manufacturing Union (EPMU) struck Ecolab in Hamilton, New Zealand, in March.

Despite mediation efforts to resolve the dispute, 16 EPMU members continued to picket outside the plant last week. Workers voted to enter joint negotiations for the Metals Industry earlier this year, but local managers declined to abide by the decision.

Ecolab, a chemicals company, is a manufacturer of cleaning and sanitizing products for institutional and industrial companies. The state of Minnesota-based company also makes infection-control products for health care customers.

EPMU National Secretary Andrew Little stated the Metals Industry’s bargaining platform provides a benchmark for wages and conditions, and that Ecolab workers have a right to expect a collective agreement that is not sub-standard. “These workers have made a democratic decision to negotiate a deal which is consistent with industry standards, but their employer has a policy of refusing all industry negotiations,” said Little.

The publicly-traded, multi-national company, 29% owned by German chemicals producer Henkel, provides its Australian workers with higher pay and extra shift leave, the EPMU states. Besides achieving industry standards, Ecolab workers stand to gain an extra week’s leave if they can bring Ecolab into the fold. The Multi-Employer Collective Agreements for Metals covers more than 100 general manufacturing companies in New Zealand.