Court staff in Wanganui staged a wildcat strike yesterday and say there will be more to come in this week and the next.
A group of around 20 union members, with supporters, picketed outside Wanganui District Court yesterday, from 10am to 11am. They represented Wanganui's 51 PSA members, who work at both the district court and Maori Land Court.
They are protesting the refusal of the Justice Ministry to engage in "meaningful" pay negotiations, Public Service Association (PSA) national secretary Richard Wagstaff said.
But the ministry's district courts general manager Tony Fisher said negotiations had been going on for months and were stalled, with the PSA refusing to take its latest offer back to members.
The offer was "realistic" and the ministry valued its staff and was committed to resolving the issue. The pay talks went to mediation on October 12.
Mr Wagstaff said staff wanted their pay rates to catch up with other members of the public service doing comparable work.
At present the 1700 staff across New Zealand were paid an average of six percent less than the median for other public servants doing comparable work.
Some were paid as much as 13 percent less than their peers' median, and 1200 were paid nine percent less.
Collective employment agreements for justice staff expired in June.
On October 14 the union members began industrial action by taking their breaks together – disrupting service to the public, especially at lunch times.
Further strikes during the next fortnight would happen without warning, Mr Wagstaff said.
The justice ministry was working hard to maintain services during the action.
Mr Fisher said the union wanted pay rises that would cost the ministry more than $100 million over three years.
The ministry preferred a system where it could control wage costs by offering performance-based increases.
"The ministry is a lean organisation. It continuously looks for ways to improve service delivery and achieve productivity gains through greater efficiency and effectiveness."
Court staff stage stoppage
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