Cleaners will walk off the job at Parliament and Auckland International Airport tomorrow to protest the lack of progress in their wage negotiations.
Members of the Service and Food Workers Union have been involved in multi-party negotiations with Building Service Contractors New Zealand (BSCNZ) since May last year, but have failed to reach agreement.
Strike action began yesterday at the airport, while tomorrow's walk-off will be a first for the cleaners at Parliament.
Under the current multi-employer collective agreement, the cleaners are paid $12.55 an hour, which is just above the minimum wage, and less than the $14.62 that cleaners working for the same contractors are paid at public hospitals and schools.
The cleaners have rejected a 25c payrise offer, saying they would be little better off after the minimum wage increases to $12.75 on April 1.
Allan Gaylard, a cleaner at Parliament, said he worked long overnight shifts for little recognition.
"All we are asking is to be treated with dignity and respect, and to be paid fairly," he said.
BSCNZ president Brian Young said the strike action was disappointing given that further talks were due to take place on Thursday.
"It is hard to see why the union has chosen to take action when the industry has been working for months to try to progress negotiations," he said.
The current offer was higher than the minimum wage, and further increases were "simply not realistic" in difficult economic conditions, he said.
The cleaners will protest outside Parliament for two hours tomorrow, and undertake restricted duties for the rest of the day.
