Sleepovers strike by IHC carers

Workers who care for intellectually disabled residents in group homes overnight are striking tonight after six months of negotiating for a pay rise.

The nationwide ban on sleepover shifts means community support workers around New Zealand who are members of the Service and Food Workers Union will not work between 10pm today and 7am tomorrow.

Next week, they will strike on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, and the week after they will strike on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.

The union has been negotiating a 2 per cent pay increase with IHC on its members' behalf since October last year, but those members are instead being offered a 12-month pay freeze.

Although IHC received a 2 per cent increase in funding from the Ministry of Health in July last year, it has not passed that on to its staff.

The IHC's Idea Services operates 10 residential homes in Blenheim for 50 residents with intellectual disabilities.

Eight of these employ staff from 4pm to 7am, and the other two are not staffed overnight.

IHC media spokeswoman Philippa Sellens said all residential homes would be fully staffed tonight. Nationally, slightly over half the organisation's community support workers were union members.

Nelson-Marlborough SFWU organiser John Cumming said there were 46 union members employed in residential houses in Marlborough.

The protest was staggered and would grow if IHC did not respond, he said.

"They have told us they have ACC to cover and increased power, food and transport costs, and our view is that our members have exactly the same costs," Mr Cumming said.

"We consider it to be valuable work and all we're asking for is the portion that relates to the wages budget to be passed on to the workers."

Mr Cumming said the members supported a vulnerable section of the community and "deserved to be valued for the valuable work that they're doing.

"Without the support of our members, those people would most likely be put away in institutions somewhere," he said. The union had given IHC a month's notice of the action.

Barbara Rocco, of Blenheim, whose son Stefano lives in one of the residential homes affected by the strike, says she has no concerns about his wellbeing tonight.

"I certainly feel he is safe because I know that the staff, whether union members or not, care for Stefano and the other residents well," she said.

Mrs Rocco, who is also a member of the IHC board, said parents had received two letters keeping them up-to-date with industrial action.

Until now, this had been at a fairly low level.

"Idea Services have been flat out making sure there are no gaps."

IHC's general manager of human resources, David Timms, said the Government's 2 per cent funding increase had applied to only part of IHC's service and equated to a 1.2 per cent increase across all services. "We simply can't afford to do what the union is asking."

He said not all SFWU members would be involved in the strike.

Union members involved in administrative work would protest by banning overtime, not using their own vehicles for work purposes, and doing only essential paperwork such as signing medication forms and filling out incident reports and staff timesheets.

- The Marlborough Express