Source: Workers First Union
Kmart workers are celebrating today after Workers First Union members ratified a new 2-year pay deal that includes minimum living wages after six months’ service for both 2025 and 2026, union-only bonuses and more.
Rudd Hughes, Deputy Secretary (Retail) at Workers First, said he believed the new agreement put Kmart workers among the highest-paid retail chain workers in the country.
“We’re extremely proud of our Kmart bargaining team and hopeful that this new agreement sets a standard in the retail industry that other big brands are paying attention to,” said Mr Hughes.
“We started negotiations with the company talking about the CPI and “clawbacks” of previous entitlements, but due to the efforts of our dedicated group of Kmart workers on the bargaining team, we’ve ended with an industry-leading agreement that includes a progressive living wage for two years and a generous union-only bonus.”
Of the more than 1,110 Workers First members at Kmart, 96% voted to ratify the new collective agreement in a series of store-by-store meetings over the last three weeks. The agreement includes the new living wage of $28.95 per hour after six months’ service from September 2025, increasing to the living wage for 2026/27 the following year, union-only bonuses of $500 for full-time workers, $350 for part-time workers and $200 for casual workers, an improved pathway from casual to permanent employment, and an increase to safety and medical footwear reimbursements.
For Tarsh Sullivan, a coordinator from Kmart Te Rapa who was part of the bargaining team, the new agreement is a “huge win” for workers.
“The union-only bonus is a big deal for a lot of the younger workers because it shows them why we’re in a union and what you can do when you stick together,” said Ms Sullivan.
“We were also really happy to lock in a better pathway for casual workers to get into full-time employment, because you can get stuck there in retail jobs sometimes.”
“The future is unpredictable, especially under this Government. I’m happy that we’re making progress and moving forward with this deal – we know it’s not the same for all retail workers at the moment.”
“Our goal now is to keep recruiting new union members and building momentum for next time we bargain, because we can do even better.”
Rudd Hughes said the Kmart deal sent a clear message to other big-box retailers like Farmers, The Warehouse and Briscoes.
“Many of the other big retailers still don’t believe their staff are worth a living wage,” said Mr Hughes. “But Kmart has been thriving as a business because their staff are fairly paid and feel more motivated and valued by their employer.”
“We need to start measuring company success differently and move on from the ‘infinite growth’ mentality. We should be asking companies more about what their staff earn, not their CEO.”
