The Bromley plant was badly damaged in a 2021 fire and now operates at 70 percent of its original capacity. Photo: New Zealand Defence Force from Wellington, New Zealand, CC BY 2.0
Workers have picketed outside the Christchurch wastewater treatment plant at the start of a five-day strike in a dispute over their conditions.
E tū union, which represents the workers, said Christchurch City Council tried to remove a provision giving lab technicians and maintenance workers at the Bromley plant the same terms and conditions as other council workers.
Treatment plant worker and union delegate Willie Nicholas said his colleagues were fed up.
"We are going on strike, because the council wants to claw back a provision in the agreement," he said.
"We want the council to honour the terms and conditions of the current agreement. The provision has been there for five years and the members are willing to fight for it."
Workers picket the Christchurch wastewater plant. Photo: Ross Heslop/E tū
E tū team leader Ross Heslop said the union had tried to reach a fair settlement for months, but the council rejected its proposal and instead offered workers $1000 for the provision in a "buy out".
"Maybe they're out of touch," he said. "The clause is clearly quite valuable to our members and hence they were a little bit insulted by that initial offer."
The Bromley plant was badly damaged in a 2021 fire and now operates at 70 percent of its original capacity, while the council worked to replace two trickling filters with an activated sludge reactor system.
Heslop said union members were working under extremely difficult conditions, because of the plant's reduced capacity, and the strike action was about ensuring the small group of workers who still worked there were treated fairly and weren't left behind.
Strike action is about ensuring a small group of workers are fairly treated. Photo: Ross Heslop/E tū
"These people are really critical in terms of maintaining that plant," he said.
Christchurch City Council said it was comfortable essential services would be maintained and disruption kept to a minimum during the strike, with contingency plans in place to ensure core operations continued.
A spokesperson said seven union members were on strike and 14 staff were at work.
"While the council recognises the right of E tū members to strike, the council is disappointed that the matter has escalated to strike action, as we understood that mediation had been left open and that both parties were still working towards an amicable agreement," they said.
Workers are operating under extremely difficult conditions, due to the plant's reduced capacity. Photo: Ross Heslop/E tū
The council said the union requested a meeting with chief executive Mary Richardson last Friday.
"The CE communicated that she was happy to meet with the union, but it was not appropriate to do so when there is strike action in place," it said. "She has suggested that they meet next week."
The council said it was happy to resume bargaining when the industrial action had finished.
