News in bargaining

Finsec members are involved in bargaining all over the show in pursuit of pay deals that keep them ahead of inflation and to ensure 90 day trial periods are not used in our industry.

At Lumley,Vero, CBS and Southern Cross Finsec members are holding meetings to develop claims in advance of bargaining to take place in June.

AMI bargaining takes place tomorrow and report backs will occur in the following weeks.

At PSIS, bargaining held this week led to no real movement in PSIS’s offer on members key issues. Finsec delegates have been holding conference calls this week to determine what the next steps should be.

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Valuing AMI staff in 2011

Finsec members at AMI will soon begin collective bargaining for the year. All New Zealanders will be aware of the importance of the insurance industry in the wake of the Christchurch quake. Finsec Campaigns Director Tali Williams said that while the work of insurance industry staff is valued by the community, it is just important that it is also valued by employers at Collective Agreement negotiations, particularly in light of rising costs.

The first step for bargaining is for members to get together and discuss what’s important in these negotiations. Delegates will be holding conference calls this coming Wednesday.

Unions – the ultimate insurance!

Finsec members from the insurance sector have met in Auckland and Wellington this week to plan for the year ahead and discuss important issues in the industry.

The meetings focused on how to increase Finsec’s profile in the industry, and to build our strength to achieve even better outcomes. Aki Kisona (pictured at left), a Finsec Union Councillor from Asteron, said the meeting provided a great opportunity for union members from throughout the sector to get together and talk through issues.

“The meeting showed that we’re all going through similar things at work, and that we share common views on how to improve things. We also generated a lot of good ideas about retention and increasing our membership,” said Aki.

Expect to see more Finsec news from the insurance industry in the new year, as ideas from the forums are put into action!

AMI backs down on performance pay for union members

AMI told Finsec this week it was withdrawing its proposal to put Finsec members on performance pay! AMI was concerned that Finsec members would reject the variation proposal, and therefore decided to proceed with its plans for non-union members only.

Finsec members will stay on the current skills based pay system that is in our collective agreement. Normal skills based pay assessments for this year will happen soon on the normal way.

This is a great win for union members! The performance pay proposal lacked detail, had no appeals procedure and like all performance pay doesn’t recognize the great work staff do that is not performance measured.

For non-members at AMI , if you join Finsec now you will be covered by our collective agreement which is keeping the current pay system. That means by joining you don’t have to have performance pay!

Next stop – collective bargaining at AMI…

Finsec members vote YES to AMI offer

Finsec members have voted to ratify the AMI offer for both the General and Assessors Collective Employment Agreements.   In the vote that closed today, 88 percent of members participated in the Assessors vote, and 100 percent of these voted to accept. In the General Collective, 87 percent participated in the vote. Of those 71% voted to accept and 29% voted to reject.

Finsec has notified AMI of the results.  The two collective agreements are ratified, and both parties will sign off the documents.

Staffing and workload at AMI remain key issues for staff. AMI have acknowledged concerns and have undertaken to consult with staff.

AMI offer to go to ratification

Collective employment agreement negotiations between Finsec and AMI took place this Wednesday and Thursday. A formal offer will be sent out to ratification early next week.

Keep an eye out for more details to be sent through shortly.

Lock out lifted in call centre dispute – unionists occupy AMI

AMI had a bit part in the industrial dispute this week between Unite members and their employer market research call centre Synovate.

As part of their action to improve their pay, locked out staff briefly occupied AMI offices as AMI is one of Synovate’s clients.

There has been a positive resolution to the dispute, with the lockout lifted and the employer and the union agreeing to pay rises and improvements in conditions. Pay rises will amount to $1 an hour on top of paid rates, that currently start at $12.50. Union members who have shifts cancelled by the company will be paid for that shift if the employer does not give at least 12 hours notice.

AMI staff mystified by employer claims

As Finsec members at AMI are in the middle of pre-negotiations meetings to discuss Finsec and AMI’s claims, their initial response is to wonder how the employer dreamed up their claims.

AMI staff have been expressing concern about the new clause their employer is proposing that would set requirements on staff behaviour both inside and outside work being “acceptable to society in general.”

There are also concerns about another proposed clause about the solicitation of work if you leave AMI, particularly with current high levels of unemployment.  Finsec members attending meetings so far are also worried about AMI seeking to take a variety of roles out of the collective agreement.

Pre-negotations meetings continue next week. If your worksite has not yet held your pre-negotiation meeting please do so by Friday April 24 so that your negotiating team knows your views on AMI’s claims.

Pay and staffing biggest issues for AMI staff

The final results of Finsec’s survey of AMI staff confirm that base pay rates and staffing levels are the biggest issues. The survey, which will inform collective employment agreement negotiations next year, canvassed the views of 228 AMI staff.

Staff identified a variety of reasons why it was important to have a strong union at AMI. The most important were:
•    Ensure staff have a say (35%)
•    Achieve better pay and conditions (32%)
•    Make a better work place (29%)
•    Help resolve individual problems (15%)

Finsec survey shows AMI staff hold union values

A Finsec survey of AMI staff shows that most feel that their employer is very responsive to staff concerns, but that they see a positive role for Finsec in making the workplace even better.

Staff at AMI said that base pay rates and work related stress were the most pressing issues that they want to address in negotiations early next year, and that the most important role for the union was to work collectively on resolving members’ issues.

Finsec’s Lead Organiser in Wellington, Tali Williams, said that it was clear that AMI staff hold union values and understood the contribution Finsec could make to ensure AMI is an even better place to work. “By being part of Finsec, AMI staff will have more of a say in the workplace, and will have greater opportunity to improve pay and conditions.”