FIRST Union
Putting Workers First
FIRST Union is New Zealand's second-largest private sector trade union.
Formed in 2011 after the merger between the National Distribution Union and Finsec, FIRST Union represents 27,000 workers in the Finance, Industrial (Textile and Wood), Retail, Stores, Transport and Logistics sectors.
FIRST Union is also affiliated to the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions and runs several networks including the Union Network of Migrants, the Runanga, Fono and Womens' Committee. In 2015 FIRST Union launched Samoa First Union, Samoa's only private sector union.
Join FIRST Union today for higher pay, better conditions and more say at work.
FIRST Union - Latest News [Page 1]
Outsourcing Emissions Shouldn’t Be At The Core Of Our Emissions Reductions Plan
Wednesday, 13 October 2021, 10:22 am | FIRST Union
FIRST Union is concerned that the Emissions Reduction Plan consultation document released today relies too heavily on outsourcing rather than actual emissions reductions. The measures proposed in the plan are expected to achieve emissions reductions during ... More >>
Residency Visas Honour Migrant Workers’ Contribution To Economic Recovery
Thursday, 30 September 2021, 9:49 am | FIRST Union
FIRST Union has welcomed a decision to create a pathway to residence for up to 165,000 migrant workers that are already in Aotearoa. FIRST Union has organised thousands of migrant workers through the Union Network of Migrants (UNEMIG). "The 2021 ... More >>
Lockdown Special - Twenty Percent Off Workers Wages At Farmers Only
Friday, 10 September 2021, 6:18 am | FIRST Union
Farmers Department Store are the only major retailer in Aotearoa that FIRST Union are aware of who are choosing to pay workers only eighty percent of their ordinary wages during the recent Covid-19 lockdowns despite receiving the Government’s wage ... More >>
Centralised bargaining is the key to decent work in our food supply chain
Tuesday, 31 August 2021, 11:00 am | FIRST Union
FIRST Union has submitted to the Commerce Commission’s market study into the grocery sector, highlighting centralised wage bargaining as a key tool to constrain excess supermarket profitability and secure decent work for everyone in the supply chain. ... More >>
Retailers threaten our national effort with non-essential work requirements
Thursday, 19 August 2021, 12:06 pm | FIRST Union
FIRST Union says major retail employers are putting the national effort to limit the spread of the dangerous Delta variant of Covid-19 at risk by requiring staff to come in to work to perform non-essential duties like packing up online orders ... More >>
Tip Top Bread Workers Back In Bargaining As Union Launches Food Made Fair Campaign
Wednesday, 4 August 2021, 6:10 am | First Union
Next week, Tip Top bread workers are going back into pay negotiations with their employer for the first time since their strike in 2019 caused a national bread shortage. FIRST Union represents the majority of employees at George Weston Foods’ two Auckland ... More >>
Do Shareholders Realise Marsden Point Conversion Could Cost More Than Half A Billion Dollars?
Monday, 2 August 2021, 12:03 pm | First Union
FIRST Union, the union representing workers at Refining NZ, are querying whether shareholders voting on Friday on whether to convert the Marsden Point refinery to an import-only terminal realise the conversion could cost $650-700 million dollars. ... More >>
Commerce Commission Report - Supermarkets Squeezing Workers To Make Huge Profits
Thursday, 29 July 2021, 12:52 pm | FIRST Union
Today’s report from the Commerce Commission showing the Countdown/Foodstuffs duopoly is unduly powerful and profitable demonstrates to New Zealanders how their spending is not reflected in increases to Foodstuffs workers’ wages and conditions, which ... More >>
Uber Drivers To File In Employment Court As New Gig Economy Report Launched
Wednesday, 14 July 2021, 5:44 am | First Union
WHAT: A new report on the state of the gig economy that includes a survey of gig workers is being presented to Minister Michael Wood at Parliament today, as FIRST Union and E tū confirm they are in the process of filing a case in the Employment ... More >>
Safe Rates Would Save Lives In The Road Transport Industry
Thursday, 1 July 2021, 7:02 am | First Union
As unions, governments and industry leaders come together for today’s Safe Rates Summit 2021, co-hosted by FIRST Union, it’s time to learn from the international evidence and implement a safe rates system that would save lives on our roads and ... More >>
Bunnings Signs New National Living Wage Deal While Mitre 10 Lags Behind
Wednesday, 30 June 2021, 6:50 am | First Union
Bunnings workers are leading the way in the hardware sector after signing a new national Collective Agreement that will see all existing and new staff earning at least a living wage, and it’s time for competitors who have fought against their ... More >>
We Can Fix Wellington’s Bus Problems By Ending The PTOM Experiment Once And For All
Tuesday, 29 June 2021, 10:43 am | FIRST Union
The familiar pattern of bad faith bargaining by bosses, industrial action by workers and bus cancellations for passengers could be avoided once and for all if we are able to learn from recent clashes in Wellington and deal with ultimate culprit - ... More >>
Visa Extension A Life Raft As The Broken Immigration System Sinks
Thursday, 10 June 2021, 11:31 am | Union Network of Migrants
This morning’s announcement that around 10,000 working holiday visas and supplementary seasonal work visas will be extended for another six months is a temporary reprieve for workers, but fundamental reform of our immigration system is still required, ... More >>
Reducing Road Transport Emissions Requires Public Ownership Of Buses
Wednesday, 9 June 2021, 1:06 pm | FIRST Union
Bringing our bus industry back into public ownership is a crucial step for reducing road transport emissions and meeting the goals of New Zealand’s climate change commitments, FIRST Union said today. "Today’s recommendations from the Climate ... More >>
Pressure Mounts On Pak’n’Save As Largest Store In NZ To Strike
Saturday, 22 May 2021, 6:01 am | First Union
WHAT: Supermarket workers from Pak’n’Save Lincoln Road in Auckland - the largest supermarket in New Zealand - will strike today after failing to negotiate a fair agreement with the franchise owner that would include liveable wages and an increased ... More >>
H&M Insist On Poverty Wages And Understaffing - Auckland Workers To Strike!
Friday, 21 May 2021, 5:11 pm | First Union
WHAT: Global fast fashion brand H&M are still refusing to negotiate a living wage, and strike action is escalating today in Auckland as staff from Commercial Bay and Sylvia Park will walk off the job to demonstrate in the central city outside ... More >>
Funding Of Buses And Ambulances Must Be On Agenda In Today’s Budget
Thursday, 20 May 2021, 9:18 am | First Union
Today’s Budget will be a test of the Government’s commitment to solving long-standing problems in public transport and emergency care, and to be successful, it must begin the process of rescuing our bus and ambulances services from the brink of failure ... More >>
Pak’n’Save Taupō Workers To Strike As Negotiations Break Down
Friday, 14 May 2021, 12:58 pm | FIRST Union
WHAT: Workers at Pak’n’Save’s Taupō store will withdraw their labour and picket outside the store on Friday as negotiations over wage rises stall and the supermarket’s managers are accused of delay tactics in signing a new Collective ... More >>
Bus Drivers And Supermarket Workers Will Welcome Fair Pay Agreements
Friday, 7 May 2021, 1:08 pm | First Union
Today’s long-awaited announcement that Fair Pay Agreements (FPAs) are on the way for historically underpaid workforces like bus drivers, supermarket staff, healthcare workers and cleaners is a welcome landmark and could be the beginning of reclaiming ... More >>
End The Failed Privatisation Experiment And Nationalise Our Buses Now
Thursday, 29 April 2021, 6:57 am | First Union
Last week’s illegal lockout of Wellington-based NZ Bus drivers has yet again shown us that private businesses simply aren’t fit to run New Zealand’s bus systems, with this lockout becoming the latest in a long line of failures and breakdowns under ... More >>
