The 100 cleaners at four public hospitals in the Wellington area, members of the Service and Food Workers Union, had been locked out by Spotless Services after rejecting the company's proposed contract and threatening to strike. Spotless brought in scab labor, mainly management personnel, to do the union members' work. Spotless is a private company contracted to provide cleaning services at the hospitals.

"The key issue is they're trying to get rid of our job security," said Lalopua Sanele, a union delegate at Wellington hospital, while on the picket line February 26. "We'll be on the picket line for as long as it takes," she added. A young woman also walking the line said she was protesting for "wages and to protect our redundancy [pay]."

The workers rejected a contract proposed by the company that includes a new provision whereby laid-off workers will receive a maximum of only 12 weeks redundancy [layoff] pay, regardless of how long they have been employed, and nothing at all if redundancies are the result of changes initiated by management--the most likely reason.

The cleaners also want a rise in their base pay of NZ$9.71, and cite Spotless's NZ$13 million profit last year (NZ$1=US 43 cents).

The majority of the cleaners are Pacific Islanders, especially from Samoa. They carried placards and chanted and sang in both Samoan and English. Many of the cleaners' children joined them on the picket line at the end of the school day.

Christine Beresford is a member of the Service and Food Workers Union in Wellington.  
 
 
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