Public sector is still heavily in campaign mode right now. With the Government’s new pay directive having now been published, it will be interesting to see where this all lands. Even with this now on the table, some agreements still seem to be a very long way from settlement.
Summarised here with links included for your light reading.
1. November Industrial Relations Activity
- Firefighters have issued further strike notices for the end of November, while continuing talks with FENZ.
- The Government has made an offer to teachers and principals at primary and secondary schools of $4 000 increase on settlement and $2 000 next year, in line with the public sector pay directive.
- University of Waikato has advised that they would be suspending striking employees taking a three day ban on entering and releasing student grades.
- The TEU has lowered the increase they are seeking for staff at the eight universities across the country from 8% to 7.2%.
- E tū members who are Stuff journalists have voted to take several two-hour strikes, and have also voted for a 24-hour strike if needed.
2. November Settlements
- Countdown has settled their supermarkets agreement with FIRST Union, seeing employees receive a 12% increase initially, followed by another 7% in 2023.
- PSA members at Tasman, Marlborough and Nelson City Councils have settled the first MECA in local government, with increases ranging from 5-9.2%.
3. Pay parity for nurses in the community
The Government has announced a new $200 million annual fund to bring pay parity to parts of the health sector. It’s estimated that 20,000 community health and aged-care facility workers will now be paid rates comparable to nurses employed by Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand.
4. Public Sector Pay Offer
The Government’s pay restraint directive from May 2021 is looking like it may be coming to an end as a letter to unions has been released. In the letter, the offer for expired collective agreements was for a $6000 base scale increase, on average, over a two-year term. That included a $4000 increase for 2022/23, and a further increase of $2000 after 12 months in the 2023/24 year.