Temperzone employees in Māngere are asking for their leave entitlement. The ventilation manufacturer laid off 85 staff who felt forced to use their annual leave during the Level 4 lockdown. John Pulu met some of the South Auckland workers who have been protesting outside their workplace for more than a month.
“It was really unfair the way the company had gone about doing everything to us, and then when we get back less than three weeks later, we are told 85 of us have been made redundant,” said former Temperzone employee Emil Freuan.
Before the nationwide lockdown in March, staff were given the option to either use their leave entitlements or take leave without pay.
After the lockdown, Temperzone went through a restructure and 85 staff lost their jobs. The company did eventually receive $2.17m in wage subsidies, but that came six weeks after the country had moved into Alert Level 4 – too late to save the workers who are now demanding compensation.
“We just want our leave entitlements back and our loss of wages back during that lockdown period,” says E Tū Delegate Pena Tamamasui. “We were left out to dry.”
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