Synovate locks out call centre workers in New Zealand

NEW ZEALAND-- Thirty call centre workers employed by Synovate in Auckland have been locked out for refusing to accept a 20 cents-an-hour pay rise, according to their union.

The Unite Union said the lockout began on Friday and was still in force as of today.

Workers have been told they won't be allowed back in until they accept the 20-cent pay deal with the possibility of a further 15 cents an hour to come in six months' time, Unite said. According to the union, employees are paid $12.50 an hour – the country's legal minimum.

Following the lockout, Synovate clients became the target of flying pickets – among them, insurance firms AMI and MediBank, and StudyLink, a service of the Ministry of Social Development.

Strikers also held an early morning “prayer meeting” outside a Synovate director's house, reciting quotes from the Bible over megaphones.

Synovate did not issue any comment when contacted today.

The workers are part of Unite's Calling for Change campaign, which aims to improve pay and conditions for call centre workers in the country. As part of that campaign, a number of Synovate employees staged a 24-hour hunger strike in February.

Negotiations between Synovate and Unite have been ongoing since November, and the union has also been in talks with other research agencies, including UMR, Market Pulse, Phoenix Research, DigiPoll and Colmar Brunton.

Union members at an Auckland call centre owned by OCIS were locked out in March after going on strike, but the dispute was resolved with the union accepting a 50 cent-an-hour pay rise, plus an additional $1 extra per hour providing employees meet certain performance standards.

Author: Brian Tarran

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