E tū is a New Zealand trade union created in October 2015 through the merger of the Service & Food Workers Union, the Flight Attendants and Related Services Union, and the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union at a time when many unions in the country had been amalgamating and developing new strategies in the face of declining membership and challenging relations in a changing labour market. Affiliated with the New Zealand Labour Party and other union groups in the country and overseas, E tū advocates within the relevant legislation for fair pay agreements, better conditions, and health and safety for workers in a range of industries. Members of E tū were involved in a long process that resulted in a review of the Equal Pay Act 1972 that led to the establishment of processes for establishing pay equity. The passing of the Fair Pay Agreements Bill (2022) enabled the union to achieve significant success for cleaners and security guards in New Zealand. As of 31 March 2021, E tū Incorporated had 48,624 members.
Background and establishment On 15 May 1991, the New Zealand Government passed the Employment Contracts Act. The legislation deregulated the labour market in what was seen as a continuation of the free market reforms of the previous Labour Government. National awards no longer applied and negotiations between unions and employers for collective agreements became increasingly difficult as the country moved from what was almost compulsory unionism to every employee being either on an "individual contract, or on a single-employer collective agreement". Jim Bolger, the then Prime Minister, said the legislation was designed to reduce the impact strikes were having on New Zealand at the time, but Brian Roper from University of Otago held that the reforms gained traction because union bargaining power had been diminished by high unemployment, and a decentralised system allowed employers to offer poorer wages and conditions. Roper concluded: "It was really the largest defeat suffered by the union movement in Aotearoa since the maritime strike of 1890, and it fundamentally reshaped the legislative framework for employment relations." The Centre for Labour, Employment and Work at Victoria University of Wellington collected data on union membership each year in New Zealand from 1991 and the results showed a major reduction in union membership and density in the country which as of 2016, had still not recovered to their pre-1991 levels. With the return of a Labour Government in 1999 under Helen Clark, the Employment Contracts Act was repealed and replaced with the Employment Relations Act (2000). This legislation was seen as more 'union-friendly', but non-union members were still able to take advantage of the gains negotiated by the union.
The work done by Ryall et al. demonstrated that while between 2006 and 2016 there remained nine or ten unions in New Zealand with 10,000 or more members there was a growing move toward amalgamation in spite of declining overall union membership. The paper noted: "The Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU) merged with the NZ Building Trades Union. In 2015 the NZ Public Service Association merged with the Southern Local Government Officers Union and E Tū was formed from the amalgamation of the Service and Food Workers Union and the EPMU. The Flight Attendants and Related Services Association (FARSA) were also finalising their amalgamation with E tū at the end of 2015." Prior to the formation of E tū, on 12 March 2015, Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU) national secretary Bill Newson reported that the union had seen growth for the first time in 12 years.
There was considerable response from the New Zealand media to the formation of E tū. It was described as "the largest private sector union in New Zealand...[representing]...more than 50,000 working New Zealanders in industries as diverse as aviation, construction, journalism, food manufacturing, mining and cleaning". Bill Newson, E tū's national secretary was reported as saying "by combining two large unions with proud legacies of organising and activism, we've created a platform to drive change, for our members and their communities. We're going to campaign hard for workers' rights, health and safety, a living wage for all Kiwis, and recognising high-value skilled work". In the same piece, Helen Kelly, the outgoing president of the Council of Trade Unions, said that unions getting organised was crucial if the rights of working people were to be protected, and Annette King concluded: "Never before in the modern era has there been the need for a stronger voice for working people...We need a living wage for all New Zealanders. We need to improve the working conditions of low paid workers in this country." Business New Zealand manager of employment relations policy Paul McKay suggested the "formation of E tū could be a positive thing for the business world, as it would allow for more co-ordinated negotiations", and E Tu's co-president Muriel Tunoho said: "We believe in standing up – E tū is a call to action that challenges us to step up because if we stay where we are nothing changes." Denise Roche, in her role as spokesperson for the Green Party supported the new union, noting that when people are unionised, they have "strength in numbers" to bargain collectively for better pay and working conditions.
Affiliations E tū is affiliated to the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions (NZCTU) and one of six unions that makes up the Labour Party Affiliates. As an affiliate of the Labour Party, E tū supports policy development, and since 2012 has twenty percent vote in a preferential system to elect the leader of the party. The union also has affiliations with international unions representing workers globally.
Toward pay equity TerraNova case In 2013 the Service and Food Workers Union, later to be part of E tū, supported Kristine Bartlett, a caregiver employed by TerraNova Homes and Care Ltd, in her campaign to gain a pay increase for care workers based on the Equal Pay Act 1972. Bartlett and the union had argued that "care and support workers in the aged residential care sector were not receiving equal pay for work of equal value, as guaranteed by the Equal Pay Act...[claiming]...this was the result of historical gender-based discrimination". The case was heard by the Employment Court on 24–26 June 2013. The Employment Court looked at various sections of the Equal Pay Act 1972, particularly section 3(1)(b) which clarified that equal pay for women "for work predominantly or exclusively performed by women" is determined by what men would be paid for doing the same work, and the Court could refer to "skills, responsibilities and services" performed by males in other similar industries as a comparator group. TerraNova Homes and Care Ltd appealed and the Employment Court decision went to the Court of Appeal which upheld the claim, finding that the Equal Pay Act required pay equity, not just equal pay.
Government response In November 2015 the then National-led Government said a Joint Working Group (JWG), facilitated by Patsy Reddy, would provide practical information for employers and employees in implementing pay equity. John Ryall from E tū was a member of this working group. The Terms of Reference for the working group acknowledged that the Terranova Case lodged by the Service and Food Workers Union had changed how the Equal Pay Act 1972 could be viewed and that, "rather than relying on the Courts to address pay equity matters, the Government's preferred response to this change is to determine pay equity principles that can be supported by employers (both private and public sector) and unions". On 24 May 2016 the JWG provided the New Zealand Government with its recommendations. The Government accepted the recommendations on 24 November 2016 and undertook to make the appropriate changes to legislation to implement them.
A pay equity settlement of $2 billion for health care workers was announced by Jonathan Coleman on 19 April 2017. Coleman noted that the "wage boost followed the TerraNova pay equity claim brought by E tū (previously the Service and Food Workers Union) on behalf of care worker Kristine Bartlett", and specifically thanked E tū and other organisations for "their constructive and positive approach throughout the negotiations". The Care and Support Workers (Pay Equity) Settlement Agreement was confirmed to be effective from 1 July 2017, and E tū Assistant National Secretary, John Ryall acknowledged that 55,000 workers would now get pay increases, noting that work was still progressing on the same deal for "community disability support workers, funding by the Ministry of Social Development." E tū Incorporated was named as one employee representative in the Settlement Agreement. and this Agreement was ratified by the Care and Support Workers (Pay Equity) Settlement Act 2017. As the act was due to expire toward the end of June 2022, Andrew Little announced that it would be amended, and the Amendment Act was assented on 28 June 2022, to take effect on 1 July 2022.
Review of the Equal Pay Bill The National-led Government introduced the Employment (Pay Equity and Equal Pay) Bill into parliament late in 2017 but it only passed its third reading by one vote and was generally opposed by most political parties. E tū's Equal Pay Coordinator, Yvette Taylor said that the bill would have made the process of women seeking equal pay difficult because of the criteria for proving merit. Following a general election in 2017, the coalition government led by Jacinda Ardern did not proceed with the Employment (Pay Equity and Equal Pay) Bill and announced early in 2018 that they would reconvene the Joint Working Group (JWG) to advise on issues related to pay equity. Iain Lees-Galloway said the legislation of the previous government had been withdrawn because it would have "created unnecessary hurdles for workers raising claims", and concluded that the key issues for the reconvened Joint Working Group to consider involved "determining the merit of a claim as a pay equity claim...[and]...how to select appropriate male comparators when assessing the work subject to a pay equity claim". The JWG reported back to the government on 27 February 2018 with recommendations.
The Government introduced the Equal Pay Amendments Act 2018 on 19 September 2018, recognised as in New Zealand as Suffrage Day. E tū welcomed the introduction of the bill because it preserved the Equal Pay Act (1972) while adopting some of the recommendations of the Joint Working Party. E tū's Campaign lead organiser, Yvette Taylor noted that Kate Sheppard had seen equal pay as the next goal for women after getting the vote, and concluded that the bill under consideration, resolved two problems with the previous legislation because it proposed [setting] "a lower bar for cases to progress, particularly with the parties involved able to set their own comparators".
In recommending that the Bill be passed with the amendments, The Supplementary Order Papers, released 21 July 2020, stated in the introduction: "The purpose of this bill is to improve the process for employees to raise, progress, and resolve pay equity claims. Pay equity is the principle that work predominantly performed by women should receive the same remuneration as work that may be different, but is of equal value to work done by men. This is different from equal pay claims, the principle of which is that women and men doing the same job should be paid the same."
The Equal Pay Amendment Act 2020 was passed on 24 July 2020 with Julie Ann Genter holding that "no one should be paid less just because they work in a female-dominated occupation – this is one of the biggest gains for gender equity in the workplace since the Equal Pay Act 1972".