The two-day Congress is the highest decision-making body of the union, with delegates chosen by each sector, Te Rūnanga o Ngā Toa Āwhina, and networks to represent members from across the motu.

Congress this year will elect a new President to replace Benedict Ferguson who has now served the maximum two terms. Other important business includes considering remits about union policy and the way we organise to best represent members within the governance structures of the union.

Congress is also an important opportunity for delegates from across the union to shape our strategy to deliver better working lives for members and excellent, responsive and sustainable public and community services.

Following the election of the three-party coalition government late last year there is now an agenda to cut jobs across the public sector, undermine partnership with Māori in the creation and delivery of public services, and withdraw from critical infrastructure support for local government. This has caused a high level of uncertainty and anxiety among PSA members, who have, through their union, determined to resist this agenda and develop a positive, future-focused vision for decent work and quality public services Aotearoa needs to thrive.

Members are also concerned about implicit and explicit statements in the coalition agreements between the governing parties that suggest a move away from universalism and an increasing role for private delivery of essential public services. These moves will lead to a loss of democratic oversight and an emphasis on profit taking over quality services. Accessibility and putting profit before people comes at a cost that is not just financial. The Congress will discuss and debate what it means for all of us to put people and planet before profit.

So far this year PSA members have been very engaged in using their expertise as workers with an intimate knowledge of how effective public services are best delivered to critique Government plans to call out the impact of shrinking the workforce and cutting critical activity. This includes challenging the simplistic separation of backroom (in reality the engine room) and frontline workers.

Further development of this agenda, alongside envisioning a better future to share with New Zealanders, will be central themes of the Congress.

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