Hoea te Local Government Waka

It’s hoped it will help boost the number of Māori members, rūnanga delegates and Māori enterprise delegates in the local government sector.

Sector Māngai Kevin Thompson says they’re keen to attract more Māori council workers to the PSA, while some who are already members have yet to identify as Māori.

“It may simply be they haven’t ticked the box when they joined.”

A team of sector māngai including Sally Simpson from Auckland Council, Joy Benioni from Tauranga City Council and Reremoana Sinclair from Gisborne District Council are working on a strategy to raise awareness amongst Māori about why they should get on board the waka.

MANAAKITANGA MESSAGE

“Our message is particularly important at this time because of our Rūnanga’s Ngā Kaupapa values like manaakitanga, caring for people,” says Kevin.

“We need to be promoting that at the council table. Instead of talking about paycuts or see you later, we should be saying we value you, how can we keep you here.”

Kevin helped get the Ngā Kaupapa values included in Christchurch City Council’s collective agreement.

He says the Council is now looking at Ngā Kaupapa and Tiriti principles as a way forward for engaging with Māori more widely.

You can login to MyPSA to update your membership details at www.psa.org.nz/login