Public servants angry at Govt cuts rally at Parliament demanding better pay

Hundreds of public service workers angry at the Government’s cuts yelled “shame” and bobbed signs with slogans teasing Prime Minister Christopher Luxon as they rallied outside Parliament on Wednesday.

Labour leader Chris Hipkins said the coalition Government’s proposed jobs cuts would not go ahead if Labour won the election. However, he has not yet specified whether Labour would make its own public service changes – or the scope of that.

“This is a Government that does not respect the hard work that you do,” Hipkins told the crowd while flanked by Labour MP Ayesha Verrall and Wellington Bay candidate and director of policy at the Council of Trade Unions, economist Craig Renney.

“We will not be making the cuts that this Government has committed New Zealand to.”

Addressing what National saw as backroom bloat in the public service was a key campaign pitch for the party in the 2023 election. The proposed job cuts are expected to save the Crown about $2.4 billion over the forecast period.

The strike, which took place across the country, included workers from the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA), the National Emergency Management Agency (Nema), the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) and the Ministry of Social Development (MSD).

Hundreds of workers went on strike on Wednesday. Labour leader Chris Hipkins (right) addressed the crowd as Labour MP Ayesha Verrall looked on. Photo / Azaria Howell

Many were motivated to strike after facing pay offers well below inflation, the Public Service Association (PSA) said. Bargaining had continued between the Government and unions for months.

The PSA said tensions were now at “breaking point” and members felt the Government was overworking and undervaluing them.

PSA national secretary Fleur Fitzsimons lambasted the coalition Government for dismissing thousands of hard-working public servants and for pay increases in some sectors that had not kept up with inflation.

One protester, who did not want to be named, told the Herald trying to live on his public sector salary was like “treading water”.

At the same time, he felt pressure when considering the competitive job market in Wellington after last year’s cuts if he ever needed to find another job.

Public Service Minister Paul Goldsmith described the strike as “an active campaign to change the Government”.

A PSA-organised strike gathered near Parliament. Photo / Julia Gabel

“I mean, they’ve even got little pamphlets out there saying ‘change the Government’. “I think it’s poor form that the people of New Zealand will be inconvenienced out of what could be seen as a broader political campaign.”

Goldsmith said a lot of public servants would have experienced “significant pay increases” and the coalition Government had “modest increases”.

“They’ve got a right to strike, but I think it’s poor form.”

Protesters’ signs poked fun at Luxon’s recent verbal slip (“At least we know who the Wahs are, do you know what fair pay looks like?”) and what Labour has long described as the Government’s tax cuts for landlords (“We can’t all be landlords, Luxon“).

Luxon in a recent stand-up accidentally used the word “Waratahs” instead of “Warriors”.

MSD delegate Kate Hamilton, who has been in the role for more than two decades, said this was her first time taking industrial action because “I have never seen any Government of any flavour attack us ... like this one.”

Bus drivers, also public service workers, honked as they drove past the Wellington Cenotaph where the large crowd was gathered.

Green Party MP Julie-Anne Genter said this was an “extremely distressing time” after pay equity was “cruelly ripped away” from largely female workers.

Hundreds of workers went on strike on Wednesday. Photo / Azaria Howell

The coalition Government’s controversial pay equity overhaul prompted a fierce backlash, including several protests and criticism from former National and Labour MPs, who convened a public hearing to scrutinise the changes.

The overhaul essentially cancelled 33 active pay equity claims and raised the threshold to make a claim. It also altered the way claims are assessed.

For a year, Labour has refused to say how much it would pay for its election promise to reinstate the previous pay equity system.

Reinstating the scheme has been commonly costed by the Government at $11 billion. At that level, this would make reverting the scheme one of the most expensive single election promises offered by a major party in recent years.

It has also triggered the coalition to attack Labour’s pledge as unaffordable.

However, more recent analysis from Victor Consulting, which is based on Treasury analysis, argues that reinstatement costs could be half of that initial figure – around $6b – if estimations included presumed increases in tax revenue.

Julia Gabel is a Wellington-based political reporter. She joined the Herald in 2020 and has most recently focused on data journalism.