Source: Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi
ACT coming after requirements for the public service to be a good employer says everything about the party’s real agenda, putting more power in the hands of employers and undermining public services.
The policy announced today aims to remove Section 73 of the Public Service Act, which requires the chief executives of Government departments to operate an employment policy that complies ‘with the principle of being a good employer’. It also wants to remove all spiritual and cultural obligations, and put into law the requirement for public services to be delivered based on need, not race.
“ACT wants to make the public service worse, not better and continue its destructive campaign to further erode the rights of workers,” said Fleur Fitzsimons, National Secretary for the Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi.
“Remember ACT has been part of a government which has spent three years attacking workers, scrapping pay equity, bringing in fire-at-will, and making dangerous changes to health and safety. There’s a pattern here, and it’s not good for workers, let alone the delivery of public services.
“The policy behind the good employer provisions is that the Government should be an exemplar employer. It’s supposed to show the country what good looks like, not race to the bottom.
“ACT wants to remove the requirement for fair and proper treatment from the public service, and they’ve made clear they don’t agree with it for private employers either. This isn’t really about quality public services or neutrality, it’s about ACT’s discomfort with employers having any obligation to treat their people fairly at all.”
The PSA says a public service that reflects the community it serves, including its diversity, is part of what makes it effective and legitimate, not a problem to be legislated away.
“A public service should look like New Zealand. That’s not social engineering, that’s just good sense if you want an organisation that understands and can respond to the people it’s there to serve,” Fitzsimons said.
“And let’s be clear about how racist this reset really is. Removing the ability for public servants to observe cultural and spiritual practices, on top of pushing ‘need not race’ into law, is part of the continued attack on Māori in the public service and the policies to improve outcomes for Māori.
“We all know what this is all about. It’s part of a wider ACT agenda to run down public services, so they can be wound back and readied for privatisation. Weaken the workforce, weaken the service, then say it isn’t working.
“Come 7 November, we will be urging voters to change the Government and stop this racist, divisive agenda. We need a new government that protects public services and ensure they deliver to the needs of New Zealanders.”
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.