Nearly 2000 community Corrections workers walk off the job in strike for better pay

Community Corrections staff picket outside the Hastings courthouse after the rejection of a pay deal.

Nearly 2000 community Corrections workers have walked off the job in a strike for better pay after rejecting the department’s pay offer following nine months of negotiation.

Members of the Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi began the two-hour strike at 2pm today.

Probation officials, those in charge of people with electronic monitoring sentences or home detention, as well as those who support bail and run initiatives in prisons, are among those striking.

During the strike, residential facilities overseen by the Department of Corrections will be left vacant, courts won’t have representatives from Corrections, community work crews won’t be able to do their work, electronic monitoring won’t be monitored, and sentences and orders like parole and release conditions won’t be managed.

Protester stoods outside the Hastings courthouse with signs that read “crime pays, Corrections doesn’t”.

PSA lead organiser Josephine O’Connor said it’s disappointing for workers to take this action, but members are insulted by the latest offer, which fails to address the real pressures on their households from the cost-of-living challenge.

“The retention and recruitment problems facing Corrections will only worsen if it fails to come to the table with a renewed offer which properly recognises the important work our members do to keep our communities safe,” O’Connor said.

She said they have members who depend on food assistance, live off several credit cards, and work night shifts at supermarkets as supplemental employment.

“It’s devastating for people who should be respected public service workers,” O’Connor said.

She also said the recent proposal and the department’s payment system are based on outdated ideas that fail to take into account the realities of today when inflation is 7.2 per cent, burnout is considered “just part of the job”, and filling in for frequent staff shortages necessitates carrying possibly dangerous amounts of work.

“You won’t see them featured in Corrections TV advertisements chatting at BBQ’s, they don’t wear uniforms, they are mostly women, and they manage 75 per cent of people under the care of Corrections.

“This is a vital, 24/7 operation and the pay is appalling.”

She also claimed the pay system discriminates against Māori.

More action is planned on April 20 and 27. It is the first strike action since 2001.