ASTE Workers Take Second Day of Strike Action

ASTE members who work for EastBay REAP (rural education activities programmes) based in Whakatāne (with bases in Ōpotiki and Kawerau) took an unprecedented second day of strike action today in protest at their employer’s failure to make any shift in her bargaining stance, their advocate, Jenny Chapman, field officer for the Association of Staff in Tertiary Education (ASTE) said today.

“Members went on strike last week in an attempt to get a shift in their employer’s position”, Ms Chapman said, “but to date there has been no such shift so members have made the decision to continue their strike action”. She made the comment that this was not easy action for members to take in small communities, but that they felt that they had no option. “We would see these workers’ pay and conditions fall further and further behind their colleagues working in the same sector if they didn’t take action. Enough is enough” Ms Chapman said.

ENDS

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