This statement was originally published by The Post
The strikes planned by several unions on October 23 represent the biggest day of industrial action in decades. More than a hundred thousand union members spread across many occupations have voted to send a message that they expect their employers to respond properly to the claims they have put forward in negotiations.
These workers include primary and secondary teachers, teacher aids, allied health workers, care and support workers, advisory and knowledge workers, mental health and general nurses, and doctors. Other professions like fire fighters are also taking industrial action.
What these groups all have in common is that they are being confronted with a coordinated and deliberate bargaining strategy from the Public Service Commission and employers. That is to respond with long-term pay offers that are well under inflation. In other words, the employers are insisting that these workers take a pay cut in real terms, not just for this year, but for two or three years.
These disputes are about much more than pay rates. These workers have also raised numerous issues around the quality of service and care, especially around short staffing and resources. This has largely fallen on deaf ears. No meaningful proposal has been made on these issues, which go to the very heart of the disputes.
Taken together, the bargaining position of the employers, which will have been signed off by the Government, represents a downgrading of our public services, our health services, and our education services.
The public sector workforce is highly committed to providing what they were trained as professionals to do - deliver a quality service that supports communities to have a high quality of life. If they accept the paltry offers being put in front of them, they know service quality will suffer, and even more workers will head overseas.
The Government consistently demonstrates they are out of touch with the realities of workers. They have tried to portray the dispute as politically driven by unions – ignoring the fact that it is the workers themselves, not union officials, who have voted overwhelmingly to take this action.
The Prime Minister even falsely claimed that the unions taking action are affiliated to the Labour Party - in reality, none of these unions are affiliated to Labour. He is deliberately spreading misinformation to deflect from his Government's failure to deliver quality public services.
The concerns over safe staffing, resources, and equipment are all long standing and have been raised year after year. There have been agreements to fix things that have not been honoured. Just a few months ago, these workers had their pay equity claims and settlements severely undermined by the Government, which has had a significant impact on their take home pay.
This Government promised to fix the cost-of-living crisis but are instead cutting wages for hundreds of thousands of public service workers.
The nature of industrial disputes is that reaching a fair settlement will ultimately require agreement between the parties.
The Government argues it can't afford it to meet the claims. But workers are well aware that the Government found $23 billion over the past two budgets for tax cuts for high income earners, and tax breaks and write offs for landlords, tobacco companies, and businesses. Workers understand its all about priorities, and that ministers could choose to prioritise the essential services and workers we all depend on.
Previous National-led governments have found ways through industrial disputes in the past. We need to see leadership not politics from this Government.
No one wants to take strike action if it can be reasonably avoided. Workers know there are impacts of strike action - but if there wasn't no pressure could be brought on employers to change their position.
In fact, these workers have shown extraordinary patience. They have been in bargaining for many months, for some over a year. This simply can't go on with the meaningless timewasting of employers who keep coming back with effectively the same offers.
It is condescending for the Government to accuse these workers of not caring about the impact of the strike. This workforce is dedicated to these services and fully understand that these disputes are not just about settling collective agreements, but also about protecting the public investment and long-term viability of these services. They are taking a stand for all of us, and we encourage the public to show their support.
We all depend on essential public services that are there when we need them. We need to show that we value these services not just with words, but by addressing the concerns brought to the negotiating table by the people who do the work.
