The theme of this year’s Congress – People over Profits – is timely in face of the Government’s squeeze on funding for health, local government, community and public services, National Secretaries Kerry Davies and Duane Leo say.
The immediate effects of the Government’s cuts are being felt across the country. Jobs and services are being lost in cities and towns and rural communities everywhere. The impact of the cuts will be felt by families, schools, hospitals, Māori, local businesses and in urban and rural communities for a long time.
As well as running down public services and the state sector, the Government cuts are reducing healthcare, community services and local government.
In tandem with the cuts the partnership embodied in Te Tiriti o Waitangi, the foundation for our country’s future, is being undermined.
No area of national life is immune to the Government’s onslaught but worse is yet to come. The cuts are part of an international ideology that seeks to starve public and community of resources, destroying trust in them as a prelude to privatising important services.
Paying private corporates to deliver the public services we all rely on will inevitably move the focus from delivering for people in need to cutting costs to boost profits. The risk is that only those who can pay will be looked after. And the workers who deliver quality public and community services will see their livelihoods threatened by redundancies and reduced pay and conditions.
The Government’s attacks on iwi Māori and te Tiriti o Waitangi are part of this broader agenda to cut away at the foundations of our shared civil society to clear the way for individualistic capitalism in which a wealthy minority and accumulate more wealth and we get trapped in a low wage spiral.
As New Zealand’s largest union, we are taking a stand against the insidious drift to privatisation.
This year’s Congress, with its People Over Profits theme, is an opportunity to rally in support of public and community services.
Congress will be held at Te Papa in Wellington on Tuesday 24 and Wednesday 25 September. About 180 elected delegates representing sector committees, Te Rūnanga o Ngā Toa Āwhina and the networks will attend along with the Executive Board and PSA Leadership.
Congress will be an opportunity to assert our support for the idea that public and community services belong to all of us and are there to deliver for people not shareholders. They’re part of how we care for each other and how we support each other to contribute to our communities and our country.
Public and Community Services are how we as a society make sure everyone receives the care they need, not just those who can afford it. For this to happen we need our governments to act with society’s best interests at heart. Government needs to act as a steward of our shared resources we use to protect, nurture and enable people to grow to their potential.
If government prioritises profit over people, it steps away from its responsibility as steward, cuts back on public and community services and prioritises the interests of private companies and a limited number of shareholders over the common good.
This results in reduced transparency, reduced accountability, greater costs on individuals, reduced access to services, and the running down of infrastructure. Not looking after our shared resources leaves us without a firm place to stand or build a future where all of us and our future generations can thrive.
By advocating for policies that prioritise public and community services being for people over profit, and that build up our collective infrastructure, we can build a resilient and thriving Aotearoa where public and community services honour Te Tiriti and serve as pillars of stability, opportunity and equity.
We will be livestreaming aspects of Congress 2024. Access the livestream here.
