Youth workers win full pay at BP stations

March 10, 2006

Youth workers win full pay at BP stations

Youth rates are history at BP service stations.

The Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union and BP Oil have agreed to wipe youth rates from the 90 BP-owned service stations throughout New Zealand, benefiting hundreds of young workers.

EPMU national secretary Andrew Little said that youth rates unfair and unjustifiable, and more and more businesses were realising that.

“People should be paid according to factors like their skill and experience,” he said.

“We commend BP’s actions in scrapping youth rates, and urge other companies employing large numbers of young workers to follow suit.”

BP and the EPMU have been steadily closing the gap between youth rates (for workers under the age of 18) and adult rates for some time, and from April 3 youth rates will disappear altogether.

Mr Little said that very few of the 1600 collective employment agreements negotiated by the EPMU contained youth rates.

ENDS

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