The dispute around the payment of Court staff is becoming increasingly concerning. This story in the Nelson Mail during the week highlights the real concern that a settlement is needed.
A packed courtroom erupted with anger and frustration as Nelson court staff walked off the job again yesterday. Security fears have been raised over the strength of anger in the public gallery, with one lawyer urging the court to lift security in the event of future walk-outs.
Clearly many people in Court, both the accused and victims, will be in a high state of emotional stress, and it seems some of them vented their concern. In addition cases are being delayed as the dispute has been going on for months.
It is interesting in a series of articles in the Nelson Mail on this issue, and backed by my discussions with lawyers, they have a great deal of sympathy for the case of the Court workers. They do a number of very important jobs that allow our judicial system to operate. They are not well paid, with many earning around $30,000 mark. Overall they are paid 7% lower than the public service median for their job type.
My understanding is that the claim with the Ministry of Justice is a modest one. It does include putting in place salary scales, with pay steps so employees can see the potential for some progression on the basis of satisfactory performance. This is a regular feature of collecitve contracts, and does not seem unreasonable.
While the negotiating is not done by Ministers, it is time for the Minister of Courts and the Minister of Justice to show some leadership, and work with the Justice Ministry to resolve this case. A big part of the problem is that the Justice Ministry is bound by the de-facto pay freeze being imposed by the government. But this sutations is now getting serious. Too many cases are now been held up, and it is clear that tensions are rising.
I probably disagree with John Minto about as much as I agree with him in terms of the various statements he makes. I know that he irritates some New Zealanders, but he is someone who stands up staunchly for what he believes, and has played a real part in raising issues that are important to New Zealand and New Zealanders.
If it is true as reported on Stuff that the police are seeking an order to destroy the megaphone he used as part of his protest at the tennis in Auckland last week, then this is shocking. We have to defend the right to protest in this country. I have been on both sides of the fence when it comes to protests and they are a critical part of a functioning democracy. Even if people felt the protest in Auckland was particularly irritating, that is the price of democracy. As it happens the player concerned was able to cope, and made it as far in the tournament as her ability allowed.
The Police have the ability to take action against unlawful protest, and that will work its way through the Courts. But trying to seize a megaphone is a terrible gesture, symbolic as it may be, for the principles of our democracy. This is a time for people including those who fundamentally disagree with John to make clear that this is not the kind of thing we want to see in our country.
Earlier in the year there was a kerfuffle over the directive by the Department of Labour that staff were not to attend a rally on pay equity held at Parliament. At the time me, along with PSA and others raised concerns as to this being a limitation on the democratic rights of public servants. The Minister and David Farrar obfuscated away at the time.
Therefore it was very interesting to hear Iain Rennie the State Services Commissioner tell the Government Administration Select Committee yesterday that he did not believe that the memo was acceptable, and that he had advised the Chief Executive accordingly. He also said he had communicated this to other Chief Executives. I have requested the actual communications to see what has been said, and what is acceptable to the State Services Commissioner.
I strongly believe that we must uphold the democratic rights of public servants as citizens. I hope Tony Ryall will uphold these rights. I will be monitoring closely whether departments and agencies follow through on protecting these rights.
Just back from the motorcycle riders protest at Parliament. Hard to say exactly how many people were there, but it was well over 6,000. There will be lots more photos to come, but check out the Stuff website and Herald website for some.
Great speeches from the bikers, supporters and politicians, including Labour’s Phil Goff and Greens Dave Clendon. Nick Smith did come and speak to the crowd, and he got a very clear message from the protest!
Here is an extract from Phil’s speech that sums up the feelings of many who attended
If you start going down user-pays, when will it be that we start charging kids who play sport for levies because they are more likely to be injured than if they stay home on the couch? When will we start charging the elderly because they have more falls?
“This is the thin edge of the user-pays wedge and it is not what ACC is about. We don’t support it going down that track.”
