Workers at Cotton On’s Mangere distribution centre, who today took strike action outside the company’s Queen Street
retail store, say it’s time Cotton On management cut the spin and lived up to their own promises of paying a living wage
to all staff, FIRST Union said today.
“Cotton On is currently duping its customers with false claims of ethical employment practices,” said Jared Abbott,
FIRST Union Secretary for Transport, Logistics and Manufacturing.
“Workers can see through the PR façade and are tired of being treated like mannequins in one of their advertising
campaigns – Cotton On isn’t living up to its own hype.”
Cotton On members have a Collective Agreement covering both retail and distribution centre workers, and FIRST Union
members have been attempting to negotiate with the company since April 2019. Their most recent offer was worse than
their first and doesn’t take workers – in retail or the distribution centre – to the living wage, despite the company
claiming to provide “a pathway to the living wage”, a “people first focus” and a “commitment to recognise and reward
their staff.”
Wages for full-time workers at Cotton On’s distribution centre range from between $17.70 and $19 per hour. The company
is proposing that distribution centre workers – many of whom are Pacific and Maori – are paid less than their retail
colleagues.
In New Zealand, Pākehā men are paid, on average, a full $10 more per hour than Pacific women. The average hourly wage
for a Pākehā man is $33 as of June 2018, while Pacific women are paid an average of $23 an hour.
“This is a company proposing to reduce paid rest breaks and remove terms from the Collective Agreement so that the
majority of workers would be on minimum wages within 6 months,” said Abbott.
“And yet it’s also a company shouting about their ethical credentials from the rooftops, despite the fact that they seem
to be just another big multinational exploiting the wage gap between Pacific Island and Pākehā workers.”
Kasalina Kolotau, a Cotton On delegate and FIRST Union member, is taking part in the industrial action after being
frustrated with repeated attempts at reasonable wage bargaining: “We went on strike because we’re sick of hearing that
we’re worth a living wage but not being given it,” said Ms Kolotau.
“They pretend to be an ethical business, but as workers we’re struggling, and a pay increase of 50 cents isn’t going to
cut it.”