Rest-home workers strike

Redroofs Rest Home workers and their supporters picket outside the Oceania Group facility in Dunblane St, Dunedin, during their two-hour strike yesterday morning.

Twenty of 59 Oceania Group facilities around the country took part.

The Service and Food Workers' Union (SFWU) sought a 3.5% pay increase; Oceania proposed 3% staggered over 15 months. The union is also protesting a proposed cut to overtime rates.

SFWU organiser Ann Galloway said workers were determined to keep pursuing their claim. Further action was planned next Wednesday, when three shifts would strike for two hours.

In a press statement, Oceania Group reiterated its statement that the union's claim was out of step with Government funding increases for aged care.