From: Erin Polaczuk ; Cee Payne (ceep@nzno.org.nz) ; John Ryall (iohn.ryall@sfwu.org.nz) ; Memo Musa (memom@nzno.org.nz2) Ce: Bill Rosenberg ; Eileen Brown ; Hula Welton (huiaw@nzctu.org.nz) ; Nick Henry ; Richard Wagstaff (tichardw@nzctu.org.nz) ; Sam Huggard Subject: RE: Serious Issue in RDA RMO MECA Negotiations Kia ora lan, This is an interesting message, though the PSA has a different view: Firstly, itis not ‘irrelevant’ that the RDA is not an affiliate. The CTU has a particular relationship and responsibility to CTU affiliates that should not be automatically granted to any free loading non affiliate, And of course the RDA is not just any union. As we all know the RDA has consistently rejected CTU affiliation. It has chosen an approach to trade unionism that was borne through the Employment Contracts Act. That is they have engaged a corporate bargaining agent CNS as their advocate which is an anathema to the PSA and the union movement. CNS is motivated by raising profit from representing workers. Itis inseparable from the RDA. CNS is consistently hostile to the PSA and the CTU. | understand that their presence on NBAG is less than constructive. Their inclusion is accidental and it represents yet another attempt by them to free load off our work in the CTU The current situation they find themselves in is entirely of their own making. Its the norm for CNS to describe employer approaches to bargaining as aggressive, and itis usual for them to scapegoat others for problems they have created for themselves. The fact that workers are leaving CNS across the board should come as no surprise given their infamy, modus operandi and history. PSA strongly supports the CTU code of operating between affiliate unions and disagrees entirely with the approach that CNS organisations take, which is to poach organised Labour. We approached APEX (a CNS organisation) earlier this year to seek a discussion around a protocol for working together and they were not interested. In the case of junior doctors, the creation of STONZ is the latest in a long line of attempts by workers to find an alternative to the bargaining agent model.Over the years RDA members have made several approaches to the PSA to join. We have consistently declined, conveying that junior doctors need to be in their own union. No doubt other affiliates have done the same. However what's different in 2018 is that STONZ has already been formed and approached the PSA for help. We have guided them away from more bargaining agents and lawyers, encouraging them to create a proper union and steered them toward the wider NZ union movement and the CTU. This has not been difficult. In my view these workers deserve to have a genuine collective voice that is a part of a wider union movement. There is of course nothing new in your report of employers going after core conditions of health affiliates. It’s certainly our experience too. You will all know that 2 years ago there was a concerted effort by Auckland employers to claw back our members’ penal rates. I'm confident we can continue to fend that off as we have consistently done individually and as part of a wider effort inside the CTU. We do not endorse employers clawing back in any set of negotiations, so can you fill us in on what exactly the current claw backs are that are being sought? Given this, we need to take a more strategic approach that doesn’t encourage more free loading and further hostility toward us. We should encourage workers to the union movement and away from failed bargaining agents. RDA members probably don’t generally understand the political and industrial issues surrounding the engagement of CNS. But clearly, without much effort a significant and growing number are voting with their feet to join a union that wants to be part of the wider CTU family Let's act in a way that encourages these workers to create a union organisation they deserve that isn’t led by a private profit seeking corporate with corporate interests and instincts. Thanks Erin