Court workers walk off the job again in pay protest

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Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:53a.m.

The union had not asked for a specific amount as a pay claim but sought to address the pay gap

The union had not asked for a specific amount as a pay claim but sought to address the pay gap

A number of Justice Ministry staff walked off the job today for the second time this week over stalled pay talks.

The 1750 Public Service Association members who work at courts and tribunals around the country staged the one-hour strike at 10.10am.

They began a work to rule regime last week and went on strike for an hour on Tuesday morning.

The ministry paid its staff 6.3 percent below the median pay rate for the public service and would not negotiate their pay, said PSA national secretary Richard Wagstaff.

The union had not asked for a specific amount as a pay claim but sought to address the pay gap, he said.

When the staff walked out on Tuesday, the ministry's general manager district courts, Tony Fisher, said "a realistic offer" had been made to the union, but it had declined to take to its members for ratification.

"The ministry has offered performance-based pay increases for staff effective from 1 July, 2010. Our preference is to reward performance, not time in the job."

Mr Wagstaff said the offer was inadequate and had been rejected by the staff.

The ministry wanted to resolve the dispute but could not afford to pay what the union was seeking, Mr Fisher said.

NZPA

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Comments

29 Oct 2009 09:26p.m.

accsux wrote:

only the rich can get an education in Nz. and a job... the rest get slave training. and slavery.. yea and those woman that were being violated and abused by there husbands got told that exact crap. when they stood up and demanded there rights to..The victimizers always use words like that.. i seen my father use that crap against my mother for years ,, to keep her in her so called place .. bullying intimidation ,, dirty name calling ,, ya mentall ,fat ugly .. yea she had serious issues was one of the regular attacks she had to put up with. She locked herself in her room for years and years.. . ya useless.. was another . ya thick was another.. yea get the shite of the victimizers.. sorry it didn't work on her in the end ,Her and her frieds ,, the victims had to get up and go into the street and yell it out.. that they wer being abused.. in the faces of the crap that enabled these scum to keep up there victimizing crap.., and it isnt going to work on me either.. but hey its here print in for all nz ers to see. that the same victimizing crap is still live and still trying the same crap. im sure many a woman in Nz recognize that for what it is,, oh and the real men..

29 Oct 2009 08:13p.m.

@ACCSUX wrote:

You have some serious issues and would do better to educate yourself and then direct your anger at people who deserve it.

29 Oct 2009 06:04p.m.

ACCSSUX wrote:

fair pay .. If they already get the the average wage ,, they already get fair pay..and if that is true .they already get he average wage,, and dont need any more.. and every cent they steal demand above the average wage,, subjects children in nz to poverty..
this is more of the same problem in nz,, with many ovr paid public servants.. doctors.. mps etc . demanding to live like gods.. no one deserves more then the average wage for the average days work, again another group are
Black mailing the public, demanding tax payers to pay ..,them way more than the average while the real workers the peolple whom produce the products that pay the taxes.. to pay these people like they are gods..the real workers in nz get $12,50 and hour.. the real average wage,, and they already get way more then that..
but hey that money they are demanding will do them no good ,, as they . soon .wont be able to leave there homes without them getting burgled. robbed and beaten up..
yes public servant greed ,, is causing poverty ,, and that poverty is causing violence , child murder,, and crime inflicted on many new zealanders.. the elderly ,, the woman and the children,, families ,, and they dont care whom has to go without so they can live like gods...
there greedy actions are murdering the children of nz...
and of course when ya keep the majority in poverty .. there are warnings. of wats to come.
But the warnings are being ignored..unfortunatley as we see ovr seas every day now.. the reality of what there greed and the poverty .. and the violence it has caused..
will cause..
violence back against them.. just like we see ovr seas..

yes we even have people forced onto $ 10..000 a year .. but theses scum say oh thats plenty for these people..
while they demand thousands andthousands of dollars,, saying they are hurting..
wat a joke..

29 Oct 2009 11:23a.m.

Mike wrote:

How can the ministry say they cannot afford that the union is seeking when they wont even talk to the union about thier position ?

If the ministry wants to take the attitude "our way or the highway" then staff are going to continue the strikes until the MOJ is prepared to discuss a fair pay system and not one that lets them decide if a payrise is fair and affordable.

All the union is asking is for a fair and transparent system that gives staff some certaintly in these uncertain times.