Bosses 'using recession' to squeeze staff

Bosses being accused of using the recession to exploit workers by driving down wages, forcing unrealistic productivity targets on staff and creating an environment where stressed staff will leave without waiting to collect redundancy pay.

As evidence mounts of increasing employer pressure on staff, Labour leader Phil Goff has condemned the actions of "less scrupulous" bosses.

And unions say wage bargaining teams are struggling to decide if employers who use "recession rhetoric" are telling the truth or just being opportunistic.

The trends have been identified as a Research New Zealand poll shows one in five New Zealand workers are fearful of losing their jobs and new figures from Statistics New Zealand show unemployment reaching 5%.

Meanwhile, a senior manager at Westpac has told the Sunday Star-Times of large numbers of staff receiving written warnings for minor mistakes. The manager, who would not be named, also said the bank's setting of unrealistic sales targets put intense pressure on staff.

The manager said he believed the motive was to make the working environment so unpleasant, staff would leave of their own accord, avoiding the need for redundancy.

Finance sector union Finsec's national organiser Michael Wood told the Star-Times there were deep concerns that the culture had changed at Westpac from customer-focused service to selling as many of the bank's products as possible.

He said the new procedures were putting huge pressure on sales staff and "people were being kicked in both directions".

Goff said he understood many businesses were under pressure and employers had indicated that as the recession deepens, they will be forced to increase redundancies.

"However, I have also heard sentiments that less scrupulous employers are using the state of the economy to drive down wages and weaken work conditions. That is not on."

EPMU head and Labour Party president Andrew Little told the Star-Times that although many employers genuinely could not afford wage increases for staff, some were creating fear "if not panic" among workers that they could lose their jobs.

Little said many "genuine" employers were willing to share financial information during wage negotiations.

"But there are others who are suddenly very coy about the information things perhaps aren't as bad as they're saying."

Westpac consumer banking general manager Bruce McLachlan denied the accusations of one of his managers.

"We are not trying to avoid redundancy that is laughable," he said

David Lowe, employment services manager for the Northern Employers and Manufacturers Association, says it is unfair to suggest employers are talking up the recession, "particularly when we see business owners losing their livelihoods and their homes".

- By SUSAN PEPPERELL, Sunday Star Times