Wellington council short 16 parking wardens after several quit over safety concerns

A parking meter on Molesworth St, Wellington. Photo / Mark Mitchell

There are 16 vacancies for parking wardens at Wellington City Council after several quit because of safety concerns with new late-night shifts.

Councillors recently voted to extend metered parking until 10pm on Fridays and Saturdays, and until 8pm every other night.

E tū union organiser Michael Gilchrist said several people in the city council's parking officer team have recently resigned with concerns about their working hours being extended.

Shifts would last until at least 8.30pm every night and 10.30pm on Friday and Saturday nights, he said.

"Concerns include the health, safety and wellbeing of workers, as well as how the new hours of work will affect their family life and practical issues, such as transport home at the end of a shift."

Gilchrist said union members were attempting to work through the issues with management and it was an ongoing negotiation.

Last week the council posted a job listing for permanent and part-time parking officer roles.

It acknowledged the job could be challenging at times, but it was worth it.

"Everyone loves knowing that they are contributing to something positive and that is exactly how you will feel in this job."

Applicants would need to have a natural ability to build rapport with customers and good physical fitness, the listing said.

"With the ability to walk long distances (up to 20km a day), rain, hail or shine."

Wellington City Council confirmed it has 16 parking officer vacancies, including five staff who will be leaving in August. In total there are 66 parking officer positions in the team.

Social, Cultural and Economic Committee chairwoman councillor Jill Day says worker safety is important. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The number of current vacancies is as many as the total number of parking officers who left in the last financial year.

Wellington City Council acting chief operating officer James Roberts said the council valued and respected the role parking officers play in the community.

"They are highly valued council staff. We are working through some changes to our rosters to support a longer operating day and are working closely with staff and their union representatives in making these changes.

"This includes making sure that our new operating day works as well as possible for our people."

Social, Cultural and Economic Committee chairwoman councillor Jill Day said any time a level of service was changed the council needed to adapt to make sure things still ran smoothly and safely.

"The safety of our employees is really important to me and my colleagues and we want to make sure we provide a safe workplace for all our staff."

Councillor Diane Calvert, who was alerted to the parking warden issue on social media, said changing the finishing time of a shift from 6.30pm until 10.30pm was a "big ask".

Calvert said she has been fielding emails from other people concerned about the parking changes the council has agreed on.

"From volunteers looking for parking and they can't get in and out of the CBD, artists on low wages who've been affected by the parking charges significantly increasing, to people coming in for a bite to eat and deciding it's not worth it for the extra $10 it will cost."