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St John has fired a longtime paramedic, after sharing information found on the company’s intranet.
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First Union says the document, which any employee could have accessed on the company’s intranet, showed that St John was not negotiating in good faith. Source: 1 NEWS
The union says the documents, accessible to any employee, showed that St John was not negotiating in good faith.
However, St John says the information was private and should not have been accessed or shared.
In addition to the firing of one man, up to five other members of the First Union face their own consequences.
It comes as wage dispute negotiations between First Union, which makes up nearly half of the organization’s workforce, and St John reach boiling point, ahead of an unprecedented planned strike next week.
“If you disagree with St John in any shape or form and are a member of First Union, be careful,” an anonymous paramedic with decades of experience told 1 NEWS.
She said workers love their job, but “hate” their employer.
First Union coordinator Sarah Stone said: “It is absolutely shocking that someone in public health in New Zealand treats their workers this way.”
1 NEWS has seen parts of the document at the center of this topic and details a plan to offer a “sweet” pay treatment to ambulance officers in two other unions, isolating and discriminating against First Union.
St John CEO Peter Bradley says those who shared the document violated the organization’s privacy.
“It was an internal document for our board to talk about, how we would work with our unions, and how we would fund our pay deal,” he says.
But it was accessible to all members of the organization. 1 NEWS has been reported that was on the intranet for more than 50 days.
“More than 3,000 people could have accessed that … It was not marked as confidential and sensitive,” said the paramedic.
Despite what was found, in writing, the ambulance service says there is no plan to discriminate against First Union members.
“We have no desire or intention not to work with all of our unions, or to kick First Union out. That has never been part of our plan,” says Bradley.
The dispute over better pay for paramedics working unfavorable shifts has yet to be resolved, with some saying the organization is not negotiating in good faith.
“It’s very difficult to prove bad faith unless you have a smoking gun, something that is deliberately misleading,” says legal expert Bill Hodge.
“It’s pretty close, but there’s nothing in the statute that says you can’t offer a better deal to a union.”
Two strikes are expected to take place next week to stop the 24-hour work.
“This is the first time in New Zealand history that ambulance officers have voted to withdraw their work,” the paramedic said.
Stone said workers “can’t take it anymore.”
“They will no longer tolerate this behavior from St John Ambulance,” he said.
“I have to be very clear: these workers don’t want to go on strike. They just want to go to work and want to be paid for the work they do at night and on weekends.”
Bradley said that St John still wants to resolve the dispute.
“We want to find a way to get through all of this … and of course we can always do better.”
But Stone said the message the union is getting is clear: “St John doesn’t want to find a resolution.”
