Glenn Barclay: Workers strike as message falls on deaf ears

Most of the current rounds of industrial action began under the National government. Photo / Nick Bewley

COMMENT:
Today, more than 4000 public service workers across New Zealand will walk off the job. PSA members at Inland Revenue and the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment will stop what they're doing, walk out of their offices and onto the street - where, for two hours, they'll let their employers and the public know why.

Strike action is a last resort for employees and their unions. It's not an action we undertake lightly, particularly in the public service. We know the New Zealand public rely on our members to deliver the services that make our communities strong and our country a great place to live. These decisions are only made after months of bargaining and many attempts to find solutions.

Given that, then - why the sudden surge in threats of strike action? Does a Labour-led Government make unions bolder?

Some commentators argue that unions hold special sway over the new Government. But the PSA is and always has been politically neutral. We're not affiliated to the Labour Party, and nor are the other major unions who have threatened strike action. This is very important to our members, who feel strongly that at work, a public servant should be politically neutral, and so should their union.

A sympathetic Labour Government might well embolden union members, but not for the reasons some have suggested.

Unions may feel a Labour Government is more likely to listen to their concerns, but most of the current rounds of industrial action began under National. The Key/English Government regularly made its disdain for the public service clear, and the pointless staffing and resource caps only served to swell the ranks of contractors.

This created a perfect storm, where increasing demand could not reasonably be met by a frozen workforce.

This Government has signalled a new approach to employment relations. There is an increased emphasis on collective bargaining, a new set of expectations on public service chief executives. We have the Living Wage as a minimum in the public service, the Gender Pay Principles, a move towards some common terms and conditions for employees. It's a new era - but MBIE and Inland Revenue clearly have not received the message. We want them to do better.

Our members in Inland Revenue and MBIE work on the front lines. They are, by and large, not well paid - and certainly not better paid than their private sector counterparts.

One in four at Inland Revenue earns less than $48,000. They're the people who staff our borders, who administer Working for Families and Best Start, who nurture New Zealand business and promote innovators, who make sure Child Support is paid out. They deserve a better deal, and today they will ask for one.

Glenn Barclay is the PSA National Secretary.