Pink Shirt Day

The MATES team is embracing the Pink Shirt movement and is ready to start a korero and take action against bullying. This behaviour doesn’t just happen at schools and on the playgrounds, it happens in workplaces too, and unfortunately, our industry is one of them. Bullying is a serious issue for the Construction Industry, and it’s time to start a conversation and speak up to take action.

Did you spot a MATE in pink today? It was pretty hard to miss the guys on site fashioning the pink hi-vis jackets and giving out lollies today on Pink Shirt Day. Wearing a pink shirt might be out of the ordinary for the guys but the topic it stands for isn’t. Bullying Is not only a huge problem on our sites but can be felt right across workplaces and today was a reminder to speak up about the issue at hand.

Every year, 1 in 10 New Zealand workers will be bullied at work. This leads to poorer mental health and wellbeing and lower productivity, not just for the person affected but also for other staff members who witness the behaviour. Workplace bullying is repeated and unreasonable behaviour directed towards people at work that can lead to ephysical or psychological harm. On site, this can be because of deadlines which can push a wave of urgency from the guys on site to site supervisors, project managers and subbies.

Pink Shirt Day only highlights the bullying events that take place for one day of the year. Do more than that and take the initiative to put resources in place to reduce/stop bullying at workplaces. If you need some free resources on hand for work, you can visit the official NZ Pink Shirt Day website and download some kits for work and home.