Oranga Tamariki staff consider striking

Oranga Tamariki staff who are members of the Public Service Association are considering industrial action. Photo / Jason Oxenham

The Ministry for Children, Oranga Tamariki, is in the firing line again – this time from staff.

Employees who are members of the Public Service Association (PSA) are considering striking over pay, workload and cultural issues.

The union has invited them to vote in a ballot that will open on Wednesday.

In an email sent to members on Friday afternoon, the PSA said, "The current cost of living crisis makes the existing issues with recruitment and retention of kaimahi [staff] even more difficult to manage.

"The tamariki [children], rangatahi [young people] and whānau [families] will lose out on the vital support they need if we continue to lose staff and struggle with ongoing vacancies."

Job ads on Oranga Tamariki's website suggest it is looking to fill more than 100 vacancies across a range of job types throughout the country. Several ads are for social workers, but the agency is also looking for analysts, solicitors, residential youth workers, human resources staff, residential night attendants, and admin staff, among people with other expertise.

Oranga Tamariki's latest annual report shows that as at June 2021, it employed 4977 people and had 5250 children in its care.

The PSA went on to say, "We need to resolve the outstanding bargaining matters, including a fair cost of living increase for all members, safe workloads, a PSA only benefit, recognition of te reo me ōna tikanga, and cultural leave …

"In our view, the length of time we have spent bargaining means that industrial action is the most effective way to address the issues that are important to members.

"We remain open to settling this dispute at any time, and Oranga Tamariki are free to make an acceptable offer before strike action takes place.

"We are also hopeful that the public service pay adjustment process currently underway will deliver an outcome that recognises the cost of living pressures we are all facing."

The Government last year said it would get Oranga Tamariki to stop nearly all uplifts of children from families. The decision followed a damning review that described the organisation as "weak, disconnected and unfit".

Meanwhile, recently released government documents from 2021 show the Treasury was so disappointed with Oranga Tamariki's financial management, that it seconded staff to its chief executive to "provide financial expertise".

The Treasury was scathing of the Government's $1.1 billion investment in Oranga Tamariki (over four years) in the 2019 Budget, saying the money was being spent on a "disparate collection of ideas" that was "not governed by a clear organisational strategy".

It said the agency had "loose fiscal controls" and the cost of putting a child into Oranga Tamariki's care was increasing without any appreciable improvement in outcomes.