Waimea Weekly Locally Owned and Operated
Wednesday 19 August 2020
Page 4
Petition for new school
Sustainability & Eco-Friendly
These businesses care
Page 24
Wanderers women make Tasman team
page 16-17
Tasman in level 2, testing ramps up Matt McCrorie & Charles Anderson As the country shifted into Alert Level 2, Covid-19 testing has ramped up in Tasman in the last week since the community outbreak in Auckland. Prime Minis-
ter Jacinda Ardern announced on Tuesday last week that the country would be moving to alert level 2 while the Auckland supercity moved into level 3, with Ardern extending the settings until August 26. Between August 13-17, 1426
Covid tests were undertaken across Nelson and Tasman, with 995 tests carried out in Nelson, and 431 across Tasman. So far, no cases of Covid-19 have been recorded in the Nelson Tasman region since the Auckland outbreak.
The Level 2 announcement came as a relief for hospitality and retail businesses in the region, with Sprig and Fern Richmond owner Tracy Banner saying the business is feeling ‘extremely positive.’ “Everybody had their fingers and toes crossed that we wouldn’t be
moving into further restrictions,” she says. Tracy says that while Level 2 takes a lot more work due to customers being seated and maintaining single service, it still leaves them in a good position.
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Cindy Karaitiana, Jenny Wells, Michele Collins and pam Talbot, who all work at pak‘nsave Richmond, are aiming to get a living wage. Photo: Matt McCrorie.
Pak’nSave workers lobby for a fair deal Matt McCrorie Reporter
matt@waimeaweekly.co.nz
A group of Richmond Pak’nSave employees are lobbying for a living wage and more sick leave after working
through alert level 4 and 3 lockdowns as essential workers. Pak’nSave employee and union delegate Jenny Wells has worked at the Richmond supermarket for nearly 20 years. “In the time I’ve worked at Pak’nSave
there have been times that I’ve had to go and get a food grant when my children were at home, because the wages just weren’t enough to live on.” Jenny and other union members from Pak’nSave are seeking a collective agreement, to get a payrate of the liv-
ing wage, recognition for long service, and more than 5 sick days a year. Last year, Countdown supermarkets across the country agreed to pay employees who have spent more than 12
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