Source: PSA
A temporary increase in the mileage allowance for home support workers is a welcome response to the fuel crisis but more is needed.
Health Minister Simeon Brown announced today a temporary 12 month increase in the allowance from 63.5 cents to 82.5 cents per kilometre.
“This is a positive step forward for home support workers who have been subsidising our public health system system with their own vehicles and their own wallets for too long,” said Fleur Fitzsimons, National Secretary for the Public Service Association Te Pukenga Here Tikanga Mahi.
“This is a win for these low paid workers doing essential life-preserving work in clients’ homes all over New Zealand. They campaigned loud and strong for an increase, but this must be just the beginning of the support they need.
“These workers were already doing it tough after the Government cancelled pay equity, stripping away the prospect of fair pay for a workforce that is overwhelmingly female and chronically undervalued.
“The mileage rate has been frozen since March 2022. Fuel prices have surged, vehicle running costs have climbed, and these workers have worn every cent of that gap. A temporary fix does not cut it. It must be higher, it must be made permanent.”
The PSA is continuing legal action in the Employment Relations Authority, arguing that requiring home support workers to use their own vehicles as a tool of the trade breaches the Wages Protection Act 1983. That claim will proceed regardless of today’s announcement.
“The mileage allowance must be set at an adequate level that properly reflects costs and we still need to see the annual statutory review of the In-Between Travel allowance result in further increases,” said Fitzsimons.
“Many home support workers cannot get enough guaranteed hours to earn a decent living. The additional hours that top up their incomes can change week to week, leaving them with precarious and unpredictable pay.”
The Government’s Employment Leave Bill adds further pressure. Many home support workers are part-time, and the proposed changes to sick and annual leave entitlements will leave them worse off.
“The Government has taken away pay equity, offered a temporary mileage fix that does not go far enough, and is now moving to cut leave entitlements for part-time workers.
“Every one of these decisions hits the same workers: women, part-time, doing essential work for low pay – it speaks so much to this government’s priorities – workers won’t forget the $3 billion tax cut to landlords, money that could have helped make their lives better.
“The PSA will keep fighting for home support workers in the ERA, at the bargaining table, and wherever else it takes. These workers deserve a permanent, adequate mileage rate, secure hours, and the pay equity they were promised.”
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The Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi is Aotearoa New Zealand’s largest trade union, representing and supporting more than 95,000 workers across central government, state-owned enterprises, local councils, health boards and community groups.
