Welcome to this special online edition of Te Mahinga Ora. We’ve produced an online only version of the journal this time round as a trial to see how it works for members. (The next edition will be a print version).

While the means of delivery has changed, this edition of Te Mahinga Ora is still packed with compelling content. In this issue you’ll find a reflection on the 2024 Congress theme, the story behind our landmark win in the Employment Relations Authority, a report back on the Hui Taumata and an update on the Fight Back Together hui planned for 23 October.

There are fascinating profiles of PSA delegate and disability support worker Pinky Kumawat in and living wage activist and author Lyndy McIntyre, and a giveaway of her book Power to Win, which tells the story of the Living Wage Movement.

Also featured is a story on the success of Samoa First Union in setting up Samoa’s first Workers Advice Centre and a review of Seeing Red, a documentary about PSA member Cecil Holmes.

This will be my last message in Te Mahinga Ora as my time as President ends at Congress 2024. It has been an absolute privilege to serve as your President over the past four years.

Over my time as President, it has been an honour to witness the work of members across all our sectors that has helped the country face the challenges of posed by an ageing and growing population, pandemics, an overstretched health system, severe weather events, and an ongoing technology revolution.

One of the commitments I made in 2020 when I was elected, was that I would keep our focus on growing the strength of our union. I am pleased to say over the past four years that we have grown from 76,000 members in 2020 to more than 95,000 members today.

The influence that our strong membership provides can be seen in many wins achieved in the past few years. These include negotiating the ground-breaking Public Service Pay Agreement (PSPA), the progress we have made in pay equity claims and our Kia Toipoto work, which is seeing a continued reductions in gender, Māori, Pacific and ethnic pay gaps (though there is still more to be done in these areas).

Another commitment I gave when elected as President was to elevate the voices of women, youth, Māori, and Pasifika within our union. Since then, we have appointed a Te Kaihautū Māori to lead Māori responsiveness across the union and Vā Moana Delegates were appointed to represent Pasefika interests. The ALMA Network has also been formed for those who identify with the many ethnic communities that make up our diverse membership.

Te Rūnanga o Ngā Toa Āwhina has continued to grow with nearly 11,000 members identifying as Māori. Our networks also continue to thrive, with Out@PSA growing by 22% in the past year. the Women’s network by 15%, PSA Youth by 13% and the Pasefika network by 11%.

Through the efforts of members, delegates, and staff over the past four years, our union remains in a strong position to strongly oppose job cuts, attacks on workers’ rights, cuts to public and community services and health care, and attacks on Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Thank you all for your commitment to the union movement and for building a better future for Aotearoa New Zealand.

Ngā mihi nui,

Benedict Ferguson

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SUPPORT WORKER SETTLEMENT STILL LEAVES SECTOR IN CRISIS

Legislation to extend the Support Workers’ Settlement Act (2017) passed in Parliament in June, ensuring the pay rates and progression framework secured under the Act will remain in place for the next 18 months.

But our members are severely disappointed at the pay increase the Government has decided on – a measly three percent – miles behind the current 6.9 per cent rate of inflation.

This pay rise is a step backwards. It doesn’t come close to meeting the very real increases in the cost of living.

These are extraordinary times and PSA members deserve dignity and respect as they continue their important work supporting vulnerable New Zealanders.

In July, unions representing care and support workers lodged a pay equity claim to raise rates of pay for this consistently undervalued majority female workforce.

The pay equity claim is a crucial step in addressing the crisis of low pay and insecure work faced by care and support workers.

PSA assistant secretary Melissa Woolley says: “We need the Government to respect these essential health workers by expediting the pay equity process while also funding an interim pay increase, as they have for all other health workers during their pay equity processes.”

PSA MOURNS "PIONEERING" FORMER PRESIDENT

Our union recently mourned the passing of PSA president and former Minister for Labour and State Services Stan Rodger.

Stan, who died in May at the age of 82, will be remembered as a committed unionist and thought leader within the labour movement.

A minister in the fourth Labour Government, Dunedin-born Stan introduced sweeping changes to the public service that have largely endured to this day.

Stan wore many hats within the PSA: he began as an executive committee member, before being elected vice-president in 1965, and later president in 1970. He went onto work as assistant secretary for research and publicity at the PSA when his presidency had come to an end.

This is my dear friend and mentor Hon Stan Rodger in his first Labour Party Conference Zoom — aged 82. Says a lot about the man and his passion for politics. RIP Stan pic.twitter.com/Hhyt9e4Ya9

— Ingrid Leary (@IngridLeary) May 29, 2022

"Stan strengthened the research capacity of the PSA in a way that was pioneering for the labour movement at the time,” explains former PSA economist Peter Harris. “His research was extremely high quality and easily understood by an audience of union activists.”

In Government, Stan negotiated the end of a three-year-long wage freeze imposed by Rob Muldoon before introducing the Labour Relations Act (1987) and the State Sector Act (1988).

Both were bitterly opposed by the PSA leadership of the day, who stripped Stan of his life membership before eventually restoring it at PSA Congress in 2004.

UNIONAID CALLS FOR DEMOCRACY IN MYANMAR

UnionAID is calling for donations to support workers facing oppression, displacement, and violence at the hands of the brutal military-led junta in Myanmar.

The push follows the shocking extrajudicial executions of four prodemocracy activists by the junta last month.

While not unexpected, these executions show the lengths the regime is willing to go to instill fear in anyone willing to resist it.

In a letter to Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta last year, the PSA called on the Government to oppose recognition of the junta at the UN, instead recognising the National Unity Government – made up of the democratically-elected MPs forced out by the coup.

Key points from the Kia Kaha Myanmar webinar:
🚩NZ and Australia must put pressure on ASEAN for real action.
🚩Sanctions on the junta family and businesses
🚩Aid and vaccines through civil society and the NUG pic.twitter.com/jE7lptoR0O

— UnionAID (@UnionAID1) September 21, 2021

UnionAID is carrying out the vital work of supporting Myanmar’s workers – who are striking in opposition to the coup as part of the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) – by raising more than $39,000 to provide much-needed medicine and supplies to workers and their unions.

The CDM is one of the last bastions of popular resistance to the military regime. But one of the movement’s young leaders told UnionAID: “hope is now a luxury.”

You can show your solidarity with striking workers by donating to UnionAID’s local contacts, who help nurses, doctors, and teachers to support families fleeing the conflict.

You can visit UnionAID’s appeal page to donate.

UN LABOUR ORG REJECTS FPA SMEAR CAMPAIGN

Business New Zealand’s desperate and misguided attempt to discredit Fair Pay Agreements (FPAs) has been rejected by the International Labour Organisation.

The United Nations body threw out Business New Zealand’s complaint, based on the spurious accusation that FPAs are inconsistent with international conventions, paving the way for the legislation to move through Parliament.

PSA national secretary Kerry Davies says: “Now that Business New Zealand’s attempts to block FPAs by appealing to a respected international body have failed, we hope they will put aside their opposition and work constructively with Government and unions to promote fair working conditions for all.

“FPAs will set much-needed minimum standards, create healthier communities, and allow employers to attract and retain the workers they need.

“We all want our country to be a desirable place to live, work and do business. Fair Pay Agreements are a sensible step to make that a reality.”

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Last month, the PSA and more than 20 organisations from across the private, public and NGO sectors came together to launch the Vote Climate campaign.

With October’s local body elections fast approaching, the campaign encourages local government candidates to support investment in better public transport and walking and cycling infrastructure.

AMBITION ON EMISSIONS

Transport is one of the biggest sources of emissions in Aotearoa. We drive more than almost any other country on earth. Roughly four out of five New Zealanders travel to work by car even in big cities like Auckland and Christchurch.

Transport is responsible for 39 per cent of our country’s domestic emissions, with 70 per cent coming from cars and other passenger vehicles.

The Government has pledged to reduce kilometres travelled by car by 20 percent by 2035. It’s a good start but it doesn’t go far enough.

That’s why we’re asking local government candidates across Aotearoa to put our climate first PSA Launches Vote Climate Campaign by signing up to our Vote Climate campaign.

OUR ASKS INCLUDE:

• More public transport, more often
  More frequent services in cities and towns, between centres and across regions
  
  
• More affordable public transport
  More reduced fares and free services to encourage and broaden uptake
  
  
• Safer and easier walking & cycling
  Investment in infrastructure to make cycling and walking safe and easy
  
  
• More interregional public transport
  Investment in train and bus services, making it simpler to travel between cities, towns, and regions

ENOUGH TALK, MORE ACTION

PSA campaigns organiser Brendon Lane says: “We need urgent action to meet the our climate goals and local government has an important role to play.

“Yes, it’s about improving public transport in towns and cities, but we also need to create better interregional public transport to end our reliance on cars and planes.”

PSA president Benedict Ferguson says: “I’ve spent my whole working life in the local government sector. I’m a staunch public servant and I believe the time has come for our sector to deliver on climate action.

“Enough talk, more action!”

The PSA will survey candidates’ support for our asks and post their responses to our campaign website in the weeks leading up to October’s elections.

You can read the candidate's responses here.

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Lisita Aloua enjoyed a peaceful childhood in the quiet mountainside town of Levin.

“My family were really close-knit,” Lisita explains. “I grew up with this strong sense of Pacific identity but, in a way, I was quite naïve.”

It wasn’t until Lisita started school that she noticed how differently Pacific people were treated outside of her community.

“We were passively encouraged to pursue sports over academia,” Lisita explains. “I was the only Pacific student in my sixth form and when we graduated, I remember my physics teacher looking at me and saying, some people are meant to go to university and some people are not.

“It was the first time I realised that the system isn’t built for people like me. The question is: how do we change it?”

SEAT AT THE TABLE

Lisita is one of the PSA’s new intake of Vā Moana delegates – key decision-makers representing the interests of the Pasefika Network at the national delegate level across all PSA sectors.

“The role is about inspiring, influencing, communicating, and building bonds,” explains Pasefika Network convenor Ulualo Mareko.

“It’s about helping our Pacific members to grow, develop, and resolve conflicts, while expanding Pacific membership, encouraging participation and influencing organisational change.”

GROWING A NETWORK

The Pacific community in Aotearoa is growing. With a median age of 22.1 – sixteen years younger than the New Zealand average – Aotearoa’s Pacific community is projected to grow to 480,000 people by 2026.

The Pasefika Network is also the fastest growing network in the PSA – welcoming 685 additional Pasefika members in 2022 – a 12 per cent increase from the year before.

“That’s why it’s so important that we bake representation into the way our union operates,” Ulualo explains.

PACIFIC VOICE

“Times are changing,” agrees Kāinga Ora customer advisor Fa Mika. “Pacific people are used to keeping quiet and getting the job done, but now we need to take our seat at the table.”

Fa says being around other Pacific people in the workplace first encouraged her to stand for the Vā Moana position.

“I’d never been part of a union until I started working at Kāinga Ora,” she explains. “The number of Pacific members in my workplace is what encouraged me to sign-up.

“There are 254 Pasifika members in my agency – I’ve never been around so many Pacific people in my life.

“It made me feel like there was a path forward to fight for our rights as Pasifika.”

PACIFIC HISTORY

Inland Revenue customer advisor Eseta Ah-Ching stood for the Vā Moana position after reconnecting with her Samoan identity.

“Tapping into my history as a Pacific Islander helped me understand the connection between our past and present circumstances,” Eseta explains.

“There’s been a shift in our understanding of Pacific history over recent years. We have seen an acknowledgment of Dawn Raids and other historic attacks on Pasifika.

“People are starting to wake up to how disadvantaged we are. That’s why – when the role came up – it felt like perfect timing.”

PACIFIC PAY GAP

“We like to talk about diversity and inclusion in the public sector,” agrees Lisita Aloua, senior advisor for Te Kawa Mataaho. “But, in practical terms, what are we doing? Pacific men and women are still paid less than any other ethnic group in New Zealand.”

In 2020, the gap in average hourly wages experienced by Pacific men was 24 per cent, and Pacific women was 27 per cent, when compared to the average Pākehā man; a pay gap that hasn’t fallen significantly for the past 10 years.

“That’s why the Vā Moana delegate role is so important,” Lisita concludes. “Yes, it’s about standing up for Pacific people on issues like pay equity, but it’s also highlighting – to the whole of the union movement – that our voices have gone unheard for far too long.

“This new role is a step in the right direction.”

‍

It was a long, hot autumn for New Zealand workers. Industrial struggle gave way to a string of promising victories, including the Allied settlement, Fair Pay Agreements, and the DHB pay equity deal.

Hoping to build on this momentum, union organisers are thinking big. Among them is PSA organiser Ian Hoffmann, who is charting a new course for Local Government workers with the sector’s first Multi-Employer Collective Agreement (MECA) for councils in Te Tau Ihu, the top of the South Island.

“As a union, our strength is in numbers,” Ian explains. “That’s why a MECA makes a lot of sense, especially when you’re bargaining for smaller workforces like the councils we represent.”

COUNCILS UNITED

A MECA is a form of collective bargaining that brings workers together to negotiate minimum standards across industries or sectors.

Its key advantage? Negotiating better pay and conditions across multiple employers in one fell swoop.

Ian and the PSA delegates were inspired to put the idea of a MECA – covering Nelson, Tasman, and Marlborough District Councils – to a vote after witnessing the challenges thrown up by the global pandemic.

“The employers were developing Covid-19 policies at the start of the pandemic,” Ian explains. “They each had different policies for things like flexible working and Covid leave and, honestly, we were struggling to keep up.

“That’s when it hit us: why are we bargaining with these powerful employers, council by council, when we’d have much greater strength as one united workforce?”

CHARTING A COURSE

“We may be separated by distance, but we are all local government through and through,” says Michael Ogden, PSA delegate at Nelson City Council.

“This will effectively triple our membership and give us greater leverage as one united workforce.”

The MECA also promises to iron out the inconsistencies in pay and conditions that lead people to seek out greener pastures elsewhere.

“We talk about the need for consistency across local government,” Michael says. “But as soon as you look at these collective agreements you see how much inconsistency there really is.

“If you’re offered $10K more for the same job a few kilometres down the road, why wouldn’t you take it?”

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER

The MECA could turn the tide by combining the best terms and conditions from each collective agreement and bringing pay up to the same level across the board

“Knowledge is power,” says Michelle Watts, PSA delegate at Marlborough City Council. “Having an overview of the situation will help us win the best possible deal for our members.”

“It’s been fun to flip the script on the employers,” Ian explains. “They are finally having to recognise that they've been undercutting each other on pay.

“That puts members in the driver’s seat.”

FEELING PUMPED

Michael says the MECA has lit a fire under the membership.

“We’re used to pushing the barriers a little bit at a time,” he explains. “You know that expression: the squeaky wheel gets the grease? Well, something like this really pumps up your tires.”

“I hope other councils follow suit,” says Vicky Hawkey, PSA delegate at Nelson City Council. “It would be wonderful if people united across local government to see how much they can achieve.”

“We’re putting a lot of work into getting this right,” Michael explains. “We want it to be more than just a template. We want to set an example for other councils to follow.”

AHEAD OF THE CURVE

Ian says the MECA is, in part, an attempt to read the tea leaves. He hopes it will bring better prepare members for the reforms that lie ahead.

“Three Waters showed us the writing is the wall in terms of the consolidation of councils,” he explains. “To some extent, we’re trying to get ahead of the curve, but really it’s just effective strategy.”

Ian believes the MECA will contribute to a greater “union culture” in the top of the South.

“We’re building that culture by lobbying the media, arranging social events, holding sausage sizzles: anything to get our members talking.

“We’re always stronger when we stand together.”

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When you’re busy changing the world, keeping records isn’t always a top priority. Yet documenting the heritage of working-class struggle is hugely important.

Archives have power. They shape our understanding of ourselves as individuals, groups, and societies. They allow us to marshal stories and summon meaning.

That’s why the job of preserving labour history can’t be left to chance. The Alexander Turnbull Library – part of the National Library of New Zealand – recognised this early on.

AOTEAROA’S LOST LABOURS

The library recently published an online labour history guide, containing the official archives of workers’ organisations across various industries, including interviews, cartoons, ephemera, photography and more.

This was possible thanks – in large part – to the generosity of unionists, librarians and activists of decades past who donated to the library over the course of many years.

REMEDY FOR PRESENT EVILS

The archives include records of the PSA – which take up a whopping 333 boxes or 111.04 metres of shelving.

The PSA records, which date back to 1890, include photographs, letter books, cartoons, and manuscripts covering membership, industrial disputes, awards and agreements, workplace conditions, conferences, and branch and executive meeting minutes.

As the PSA’s general secretary wrote in 1981, the material spans a century and contains “material of
considerable historical interest.”

The Herbert Roth papers are particularly significant. A librarian and historian whose books include Remedy for Present Evils, a history of the PSA written in 1987, Roth was an avid collector of union and activist papers from union officials, shopfloor activists, and pioneering feminist organisers.

SLICE OF WORKING LIFE

Evidence of everyday working life is here, too. The Te Whaiti Family Papers (1870-1980) describe farming, family and Māori life in the Wairarapa, while Margaret Benton’s reminiscences (1881-1966) recall her working life as a domestic servant.

I got my discharge from Masterton Hospital...They made my account...£17.11.0 but…told me I need not pay it, however I paid £5 and promised to pay more as soon as I am able to. I had not worn my boots since I went in (May 11) and felt awkward in them at first #WW100

— James Cox's diary (@cox_diary) June 19, 2018

My personal favourite is the diary of itinerant labourer James Cox. From at least 1888 onwards, this swagman scrawled daily entries about his struggle to make a living onto tiny pieces of paper. By 1925, this remarkable account amounted to almost 8,000 pages and 800,000 words.

They have inspired books, blogs and even a Twitter account @cox_diary

PSA JOURNAL ARCHIVE

It’s not all manuscripts. The guide has links to hundreds of interviews, thousands of cartoons, and hundreds of thousands of photographs. There’s a section for newspapers, journals and books, including the PSA Journal’s own online archive.

Whether you’re exploring the past, or drawing links to the present, the labour history guide is wonderful place to start.

Nā Jared Davidson, research librarian at the Alexander Turnbull Library in Wellington.

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Last year, the Government introduced a new temporary visa to protect migrant workers from ruthless exploitation at the hands of their employers.

The Migrant Exploitation Protection Work Visa allows workers to leave exploitative work, giving them half a year to find another job and retain their residency.

It’s urgently needed. The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) reported 500 complaints of migrant worker exploitation between 2020 and 2021 – a 259 per cent increase from the previous year.

MIGRANT EXPLOITATION

Pacific Legal immigration lawyer Richard Small attributes this exponential rise to deportations being paused during the pandemic, which “removed the bat from above the heads of migrant workers,” encouraging them to report their exploitation in ever greater numbers.

But Mandeep Bela, PSA organiser and president of Union Network of Migrants (UNEMIG), paints a more distressing picture.

WORKING UNDER THE TABLE

“The pandemic has been a relief in the sense that the Government, due to worker shortages, allowed many migrants to work for any employer,” Mandeep explains. “This helped but, in the long run, visas will still be attached to individual employers – which is the number one cause of migrant exploitation.”

Research conducted by UNEMIG found 65 per cent of migrant workers attributed their exploitation to having a visa attachment to a particular employer; a problem the Migrant Exploitation Protection Work visa does little to address.

The Government’s plan to axe Partner Work Visas at the end of the year will  likely make things worse, Mandeep explains, shackling migrants to exploitative situations and financial dependence.

The Partner Work Visa currently allows partners to access visas for the same amount of time as their migrant worker partners, with the option to work or study for up to three months.

It’s feared that the change – slated to take place in December – will force migrants to subsist on a single income or work under the table to make ends meet.

Intervention by Mandeep Bela of Union Network of Migrants (UNEMIG) New Zealand during the multi-stakeholder meeting on GCM, on 16 May 2022 at the UN Headquarter.#NothingAboutUsWithoutUs #WhatMigrantsWant #GMRF2022 #IMRF #Migration2022 pic.twitter.com/JCnACQSJmB

— The Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants (@apmm1984) May 18, 2022

FINANCIAL DEPENDENCE

Greens spokesperson for immigration Ricardo Menéndez March said: “If the Government wants to create a high-wage economy they should be focusing on lifting wages across the board, instead of limiting the working rights of migrant families.

“It will be a lot harder for migrant families to survive on one income and forcing migrants into financial dependence will create power dynamics that can result in abuse.”

What would tackle the root causes of exploitation? For Mandeep, the solution is obvious: organise migrant workers into unions.

“We need preventative measures to root out exploitation,” Mandeep continues. “That means linking visas to skills, rather than employers, to redress the power imbalance. But we’re never going to get there unless migrant workers are properly organised.”

A PERSONAL JOURNEY

Mandeep’s campaign against migrant exploitation comes from a deeply personal place. When he first arrived in Aotearoa, Mandeep experienced exploitation first hand while working as a kiwifruit picker and living in overcrowded conditions in an isolated five-bedroom farmhouse with 15 other migrant workers.

“I was in a very precarious position because I didn’t know my rights,” Mandeep explains. “I was told by my employer that if I wanted to secure my future here, I shouldn’t join a union.”

Mandeep says migrant workers are often reluctant to unionise because they’re afraid of rocking the boat – a fear that comes right from the top.

COMMON UNDERSTANDING

“Migrants’ union protections are often slim to none,” Mandeep says. “But by joining the network, they can access support and advice from other migrants who have been in similar situations, even if they don’t belong to a union themselves.

“That’s why we set up UNEMIG; to fight disinformation by helping migrant workers understand the role of unions in the workplace, while educating New Zealanders about how migrant exploitation can drives wages down across the board.”

Because most migrants to New Zealand are relatively young – the vast majority are between the ages of 25 and 34 – Mandeep has had great success connecting with UNEMIG’s members on social media. The
network now boasts more than 11,000 followers on Facebook alone.

“We used this momentum to encourage workers to join a union and learn more about their rights at work,” Mandeep explains.

ENDING EXPLOITATIVE WORK

It’s an approach that’s been so successful, Mandeep hopes to replicate it within the PSA.

“The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions (NZCTU) recently signed a motion to create a diverse cultures network,” says Mandeep “We’re looking at the possibility of setting up a separate migrants’ network within the PSA.”

“It’s partly because of my own experience of being exploited at work,” Mandeep concludes. “But I want to do whatever I can to help migrants in similar situations, now that I’m in the position to do so.”

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Allied health workers recently ratified a ‘life-changing’ pay settlement, in an incredible vindication of the power of collective action.

The news comes after 19 months of tireless negotiations, in which Allied workers lobbied, marched, and withdrew their labour for 24 hours during a series of rolling demonstrations.

HISTORIC MANDATE

More than 98 per cent of health professionals voted to accept the deal which – for many members – will make the difference between living comfortably and just scraping by.

Sterile services technician Amy Thompson says: “It means I have a little extra money to play with. Money to get a haircut, visit the dentist, maybe even enjoy the occasional therapeutic massage: the little things in life.

“But more than that, I’ve learnt how to make change, rather than just waiting around for it to happen.”

CONFIDENCE LIFTED

Amy isn’t alone. PSA research shows the We Are Allied campaign had a galvanising effect on Allied members.

The campaign evaluation, which compares member responses from April 2021 and July 2022, found Allied members were now 33 per cent more active within the PSA, while member inactivity fell by more than 24 per cent.

What’s more, 86 per cent of Allied members now believe in the power of unions to affect positive change.

STRENGTH IN NUMBERS

PSA organiser Will Matthews agrees: "This deal serves as an example of what working people can do if they unite behind common issues. Our campaign was the physical embodiment of ‘strength in numbers’.”

"We would like to express our thanks to the people who backed us every step of the way. From members of parliament to people on the street, your support meant so much."

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Members in DHB admin and clerical roles recently ratified an ‘epic, mana-enhancing’ pay deal which is set to transform the lives of some of the sector’s lowest-paid workers.

PSA delegate Nancy McShane says the historic victory has triggered a “quantum shift” in members’ willingness to stand up for themselves in the workplace.

“Our profession has always felt invisible,” Nancy explains. “When I arrived in the role, the feeling was that nothing ever changes, but here we are – 13 years later – with this fantastic result!”

The deal is a reminder of the importance of working to lift pay and conditions across all occupations.

Loving listening to DHB clerical staff on @radionz celebrating their well overdue/long fought for historic pay equity settlement (the 1st under new law) and still advocating for their allied health mates. That is solidarity. That is union. #payequity #PSA #weareallied

— Jan Logie (@janlogie) May 17, 2022

“It’s a victory for the entire health service,” Nancy continues. “The Allied workers are coming along behind us, and now NGO social workers as well.

“We’ve been pitted against each other to fight for crumbs for decades. Solidarity isn’t just about standing with your colleagues. It’s about standing with all professions in their time of need.”

PSA delegate Nia Bartley describes the deal as a “restorative win for all involved."

“This is a victory for future generations,” Nia says. “For those who left the workforce, and those who have sadly passed away.

“Many of my colleagues have worked multiple jobs for decades. They haven’t been able to spend time with their families. Others haven’t been able to contemplate starting families.

“This deal is a beacon of hope that will transform lives for the better."

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Be more mindful, set personal boundaries, it’s okay not to be okay. Sound familiar? They’ve become the watchwords of HR departments across Aotearoa in recent years.

It’s easy to see why. Wage stagnation, worker atomisation, and job insecurity has led to a 22 per cent decline in the mental wellbeing of working New Zealanders since 2018.

Reluctant to examine their own complicity in this trend, some employers have been quick to push ‘self-care’ commodities like mindfulness apps and at-the-desk massages as the solutions to these deep-seated issues.

This reflex has become so ingrained it’s led to a $13 billion valuation for the self-care industry worldwide.

Perennial talk of ‘challenging stigma’ is cheaper than properly funding the NHS, building millions of council-owned properties or improving wages. & yet dealing with mental health as a form of purely privatised stress leaves us incapable of dealing with it as a social phenomenon.

— Aaron Bastani (@AaronBastani) July 22, 2021

But for Vanessa Cooper, mentally healthy work specialist at WorkSafe New Zealand, these measures do little to paper over the cracks.

“By reinforcing the idea of mental health as an individual problem – rather than a social issue – employers can ignore the real issues, doing more harm than good,” Vanessa explains.

While measures like these put the onus back on the worker, a new study – Exploitation as Structural Determinant of Mental Illness, published in the US Journal of Epidemiology – places the blame squarely at the employer’s door, revealing a direct causal link between mistreatment in the workplace and declining mental health.

WORKPLACE EXPLOITATION

The study claims the root causes of mental health can only be understood if we look upstream from factors like pay and conditions to the process of exploitation that gives rise to them.

Lead author Seth J. Prins told Jacobin Magazine: “People often are exploited above and beyond their wage. You can look, for example, at how many hours someone works. Many people work well above the standard forty-hour work week.”

This is particularly relevant for New Zealanders who work, on average, 2.3 hours a week more than the 31.9 hours per week in other OECD countries.

PROGRESSIVE PROTECTIONS

But if exploitation is key to our worsening mental health, the solution may be right in front of us: greater union membership.

Another study published in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine found that a 10 per cent increase in union density corresponded to a 17 per cent decrease in deaths by overdose or suicide.

This is partly because greater union density equates to higher wages and greater job security, but the study’s findings have wider implications.

In it, the authors write: “unions improve working-class health by advancing economy-wide compensation norms, labour rights, and progressive social protections and public-health programmes, reducing material deprivation and psychosocial stressors throughout the working class.”

COMMUNITY APPROACH

It’s an argument that rings true for Vanessa Cooper: “When we talk about mental health, we often think about illness. That becomes a biomedical conversation, when we need to think about it as a community issue.

“If you look at what leads people to high levels of stress, distress and suicide: it’s workplace issues, child custody battles, relationship break-ups, financial stress, it’s life. But we make it into a mental health thing. That really limits our ability to creatively problem solve, and look at what support a person, family or workplace needs to solve the problem.”

Are these the sorts of issues that unions can address? “I think so,” Vanessa continues. “Unions can create more mentally healthy work because they offer people peer-support and a way of addressing issues collectively, rather than as individuals.”

MENTALLY HEALTHY WORK

Vanessa, who also leads the PSA’s diversity, equity, and inclusion work as a national delegate, believes collective action is key to making workers feel valued; unpicking the exploitative dynamics that lead to worsening mental health.

“We define mentally healthy work as people feeling seen, heard and valued,” Vanessa explains. “At its foundation it’s acknowledging people for the work that they do, and listening to them when they need to raise an issue.”

Vanessa says unions like the PSA are already working at a high level on mental health by connecting people’s mana to their pay and conditions and working collectively to bring people up together.

“The PSA has an advantage because the drive for the greater good is already baked into the public sector,” Vanessa continues.

“We want to resolve issues, and create more mentally healthy workplaces, so it’s easier for the next person who comes along.”

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The PSA recently negotiated a pay equity settlement for social workers from five organisations across Aotearoa after a pay rise at Oranga Tamariki left NGO workers feeling the pinch.

In 2019, Government social workers received a 30 per cent pay rise. While this win was richly deserved, it left some smaller agencies struggling to keep up.

Social workers in the NGO sector faced a difficult decision: settle for low pay in the jobs they love, or leave in search of greener pastures elsewhere.

But after three years of tireless negotiation, this settlement will finally realign pay between the Government and NGO sectors – with sweeping pay increases on the horizon for social workers across Aotearoa.

“A lot of my colleagues were leaving to go where the money is,” explains PSA delegate Gipsy Pirika, school social worker for Barnardos New Zealand.

"You can’t blame them but it’s a shame. Barnardos is a lovely place to work. That's what you want when your mahi is taxing – somewhere that looks after you, takes care of you, prioritises your health.

“This settlement will help people stay in the jobs they love for longer.”

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When you think about insecure work, ‘gig economy’ jobs usually spring to mind. But many community interpreters in Aotearoa’s public service are subject to similar exploitative conditions.

Community interpreting is a service for people who do not speak a country’s dominant language. We work across every area of the public sector.

Without us, migrants cannot access public services, and public servants cannot serve.

DIGNITY FOR MIGRANTS

My job is interesting, worthwhile, and rewarding. I help other migrants live more dignified, fulfilling lives.

The role requires an understanding of the history and culture of our clients’ countries, alongside ethical decision-making, and a sensitive approach to dealing with trauma.

We work in stressful, high-stakes situations, interpreting in courts, hospitals, and during immigration interviews.

I have an undergraduate degree in translation, a graduate diploma in interpreting, and a master’s degree in language and culture.

Despite my skills and experience, I still cannot support myself on translation work alone – even after five years in the profession.

I’m entitled to neither sick leave nor holiday pay. Travel expenses often come out of my own pocket. I’m rarely compensated for the time I spend preparing for appointments.

FORGOTTEN WORKFORCE

The New Zealand Society of Translators and Interpreters (NZSTI) has been working to promote a greater awareness of these challenges.

Unfortunately, the body is studiously ‘apolitical’ and made up entirely of volunteers, limiting its ability to make meaningful change.

The Government has done little to help, preferring to outsource its responsibilities to private companies.

In 2017, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) established the Language Assistance Services (LAS) Programme, with the aim of “improving face-to-face and remote interpreting services across the public sector”.

This saw telephone and video interpreting services – previously coordinated by the Department of Internal Affairs – contracted to an Australian provider which set our terms, conditions, and rates of pay from thousands of kilometres away.

Our hourly rates of pay were reduced, and our 15-minute minimum payment was eliminated.

INSECURE EMPLOYMENT

Two years on, the provider was found to have been illegally sold under market value. The Government abruptly moved to a different service provider, with confused interpreters receiving onboarding calls before the change had even been communicated.

The LAS Programme also introduced a requirement for interpreters to receive certification from the National Australian Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI) before 2024 to continue working in the public sector.

Although MBIE covers the initial certification cost, interpreters will have to pay for ongoing recertification every three years - a cost that will come out of their own pockets.

SOLIDARITY AND UNDERSTANDING

We want recognition and remuneration for the highly specialised work we do. But how do we get there?

Professional interpreters have been calling on the language service providers contracted by the Government to introduce automatic insurance cover, minimum service charges and protection from last minute  cancellation which, at present, means we can be paid nothing if a job is cancelled with 24-hours’ notice.

The PSA has recently launched a pay equity claim for the few interpreters who are effectively employed by Counties Manukau District Health Board.

It’s a great start, but unless the Government recognises us as casual employees, we can’t access union support and the pay increases, minimum wage entitlement and improved conditions that come with it.

This is primarily a call for solidarity and understanding. Please help us fight for improved pay, conditions, and union coverage.

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

A recent Government report recommended public consultation to better understand the impact of the current employment model on contractors.

You can make a submission on the report here.

You can also sign our petition for better pay and conditions here.

Nā Agustina Marianacci, freelance English-Spanish translator and interpreter.

Correction: The article published on the PSA website on September 10 2022 originally referred to a interpreter being offered $16 for a one-hour interpreting session. The $16 figure was actually offered for a 20-minute job at a rate of $0.8/minute. The article also incorrectly referred to 'community translators' instead of 'community interpreters.'

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Centuries of oppression, tragedy and collective responsibility converge on iconic Māori community leader and activist Dame Whina Cooper in this reverential biopic.

Whina is compellingly unglamourous. Death, displacement, and the struggle for rangatiratanga are interspersed with visions of the everyday; land tribunals, churches, marae, and the misty vistas of Panguru.

The great mountain silhouettes a community long ago hollowed out by colonisation. Whina, the daughter of a respected Kaumātua, emerges as an unlikely hero, uniting her people in pursuit of greater sovereignty, while husbands, sons, and brothers march to war.

Whina is played in triptych: first as a fierce teenager (Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne), next a world weary rangatira (Miriama McDowell), and finally a beloved kuia (Rena Owen).

12/9/1895 — b. Whina Cooper, New Zealand activist, educator. The “Mother of the Nation”; lifelong social justice & aboriginal land rights campaigner. The first president, Maori Wmn’s Welfare League (1951); leader of hikoi nonviolent march against loss of lands ('75)#womenshistory pic.twitter.com/OzhuT6J213

— Wikipatia (@Wikipatia) December 9, 2021

McDowell, who shoulders the majority of the film’s runtime, is particularly compelling – wearing the burden of motherhood, womanhood, religion, and leadership in her worry lines and furrowed brow.

Directors James Napier Robertson and Paula Whetu Jones pay great attention to Whina’s personal life: the death of her two young husbands and the intersections between her Māori identity and her Catholicism.

Whina’s eventual rejection of the Church’s condescension toward its Māori congregants is triumphant, setting the stage for her involvement with the Māori Women’s Welfare League and the famous land march to Parliament in 1975.

The march is a soaring crescendo in a film otherwise stayed by the minutiae of everyday activism; making it even more powerful when it arrives.

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In July, the PSA hosted Swiss trade unionist Adrian Durtschi, head of the home support sector at one of the world’s largest trade union federations, UNI Global.

Adrian travelled more than 8,000 kilometers from his home in Switzerland to engage PSA staff in a wide-ranging kōrero on organising care workers, building solidarity across borders, and the importance of holding big multinationals – like Amazon and Uber – to account.

His stop in Aotearoa was the culmination of a round-the-world tour of affiliated trade unions, which took him to Brazil via Buenos Aires, where he spent 10 days convalescing from Covid-19, before finally making it to the PSA.

This sort of trip is par for the course for Adrian.

“Part of my role at UNI Global is to offer support with campaigns, organising, and strategy to any of UNI Global’s 900 affiliated trade unions worldwide,” he explains.

“I’m in Croatia helping young, lefty people organise care workers one day, I’m recruiting members from dialysis clinics in Columbia the next.”

BRIGHT BEGINNINGS

But prior to taking on his role at UNI Global, Adrian was a regular union official, with more than 10 years’ experience with the Swiss trade union Unia. “I became involved with the labour movement by accident,” Adrian explains.

“I was the head of the Young Socialists society in my hometown of Thun.

“I was giving a speech to a crowd during International Workers‘ Day, and I caught the attention of a Unia official, who later offered me an internship.”

Adrian’s first task was to organise a campaign opposing the privatisation of a local utilities company.

“Unbelievably, we won,” Adrian enthuses. “It was an incredible introduction to the labour movement. It showed me that change is possible!”

POWER OF CARE

The campaign landed Adrian a full-time job. “I went on to hold strikes in retail, organise factories and construction sites, and finally ended up working with care workers.”

Adrian says the home support sector has a special place in his heart.

“My mother was a home support worker for most of her life, my grandmother as well,” he says. “My sister works in the care system now, and so does my brother. It always felt like home to me.

“It’s also the fastest growing industry in the US and parts of Europe,” Adrian continues. “In the past, our strength was in heavy industry but – if a union’s power is in numbers – then our future lies with care workers.”

UNLIKELY LEADER

Adrian never intended to work internationally. “I applied for my role at UNI Global on a whim,” he admits. “I never expected to get it, but they wanted someone young and crazy.”

It’s true Adrian doesn’t look like a traditional unionist. Boyish, with a shock of curly brown hair, he has the kind of charisma that plays well on picket lines, and in front of crowds.

What first attracted him to the role? “In part, it was the opportunity to hold big multinationals like Amazon and Uber to account,” he explains.

“Amazon represent a real danger for public sector unions like the PSA, because it’s investing large sums of money in health sectors around the world.

“It recently bought up an entire healthcare system in the United States for around $9billion. “Whenever a company like that enters the market, you can bet it’s going to be destructive, and workers are going to then pay the price.”

ALGORITHMIC BOSSES

Adrian is quick to point to the tactic – developed by companies like Amazon and Uber – of using algorithmic management systems (HRMs) to endlessly drive efficiency, and its implications for public sector workers.

“It’s not just Amazon ,”Adrian explains. “Healthcare companies have begun using artificial intelligence (AI) to manage human resources.

“This poses big challenges for unions because its really ideology disguised as numbers; it’s a way of companies justifying their exploitation and saying it’s rational.

“Amazon is spreading its ideology across the globe – that’s why it’s so important that we stand together to hold it to account.”

SOLIDARITY ACROSS BORDERS

Adrian is optimistic about the future of unions. “We’re clearly living through a historic moment,” he says.

“Whether it’s the Amazon Union in Staten Island, rail workers in the UK, care workers in the Czech Republic, or healthcare workers in Columbia – unions are fighting back.

“Young people are joining in record numbers. Our membership is growing, and we’ve never been so energised; to do things, to win things.

“We haven’t seen this kind of opportunity in two and a half decades. We must seize hold of it and organise, organise, organise, to show workers that change is possible.

“International solidarity is in our DNA,” Adrian concludes. “We just need to harness it.”

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It’s rare to see class struggle depicted on screen without allegory or illusion to soften its edges.

That’s the promise delivered on in Another World – the third film from renowned French filmmaker Stéphane Brizé.

In this clear-eyed character study of blue-collar worker turned middle manager, Philippe (Vincent Lindon), Brizé explores the ethical compromise that underscores social mobility under capitalism.

Brizé eschews formalism in favour of oppressive reality. The camera is often static, languishing in drab office spaces and conference rooms, making the drudgery of Philippe’s life feel inescapable.

It’s under the glare of incandescent light that Philippe is tasked with the impossible: pacify an increasingly irate workforce in the wake of a series of brutal layoffs.

Philippe is no angel and his ascension through the ranks of his middling home appliance company leaves a trail of disloyalty and double-dealing in its wake.

But, for all this, he still has a conscience. He hatches a plan to pass up his annual bonus, and those of the other managers, to rescue his workers from further hardship.

His intentions are thwarted when the bosses reveal an awful truth: they know the layoffs are avoidable, they want to swing the axe in a show of strength.

Philippe is left to grapple with an impossible decision. Whatever he chooses, we know – under a system as cruel as capitalism – only moral victories can be snatched from the jaws of defeat.

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Rocketing energy bills, combined with the rising cost of living, are flatlining wages. Members and their whānau are feeling the crunch.

Anyone who provides a service to the people of Aotearoa understands the harm the cost-of-living crisis is inflicting on communities across the motu.

Low wages and stressful working conditions are leading to staffing shortages. The public service pay restraint – in place since 2020 – has only made things worse.

We are living through a profoundly difficult period in history. People are frustrated. We need to channel that into action.

PUBLIC SECTOR PAY ADJUSTMENT

That’s why unions affiliated to the NZCTU – including the PSA – are negotiating a pay increase for workers across the whole of the public sector.

If successful, the Public Sector Pay Adjustment (PSPA) will lift pay in health, education, the state sector, and community services – any industry funded by Government.

It’s time to use our collective strength to negotiate a pay increase that takes inflation into account, rather than sending workers’ wages spiralling backward.

It’s about equity and fairness. It’s about lifting respect, along with pay. It’s an opportunity we simply can’t
afford to pass up.

ONGOING NEGOTIATIONS

We’re currently bargaining with representatives from Te Kawa Mataaho Public Service Commission.

This won’t be a prolonged negotiation. We hope to conclude bargaining in weeks, not months.

There are no guarantees in when it comes to bargaining, but we are committed to delivering the best possible deal for our members.

We will update you as soon as negotiations progress.

UNIONS TOGETHER

History tells us unions are more successful when we work together. This is an opportunity for union members across the country to move the dial for all public sector workers.

Tell your non-union colleagues to join the PSA. The more of us there are, the louder our voice will be heard.

The PSPA negotiations will benefit tens, if not hundreds of thousands of workers – many of whom are on extremely low wages.

By joining with the NZCTU and other unions we can combine our efforts to secure a decent pay rise for all.

WHAT ARE WE NEGOTIATING?

• A pay adjustment for the whole public service and funded sector.
• An added advantage for members from NZCTU affiliated unions.
• Continued pay equity processes separate from the PSPA.
• Continued initiatives to close the ethnic pay gap and establish the living wage as a public sector minimum.
• Pay adjustment made available to all from the date of commencement.
• Funding to pay for the PSPA provided to all agencies without incurring job losses.

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In the UK, the Covid-19 pandemic shone a light on work drudgery as never before. Not just as an immutable reality but – quite literally – a matter of life and death.

This is where Amelia Horgan’s Lost in Work: Escaping Capitalism begins. In a country where the class divide was written large in the daily death toll. Where low paid health workers were expected to risk their lives for a round of applause. Where even the daily commute became a vector for disease.

Horgan rightly identifies Covid-19’s disparate effects on those in lower paid work, many of whom were forced into B.A.U as the pandemic raged, while those at the top of society were safely ensconced in their homes.

She uses this stark inequity to question the rhetoric of ‘progressively improving work’ with a nuts-andbolts introduction to why and how work under capitalism may, in fact, be getting worse.

But Horgan isn’t a pessimist and Lost In Work is an earnest attempt to alert readers to the universal harms of capitalism.

In it, Horgan takes aim at the gig economy, zero-hours contracts, and bogus self-employment, while expanding the terms of what we think of as work, all to encourage readers to view their disaffection and atomisation as a societal ill, the only cure for which is collective action.

Some may find sections of the book well-trodden. But Horgan is a journalist, not a unionist, and her book is for the many, not the few.

Horgan is at her best when she’s sacrificing the union movement’s sacred cows.

She argues persuasively against the valorisation of work within the labour movement which, for her, plays into the capitalist narrative of ‘good jobs’ and ‘bad jobs’. Only the latter – society dictates – should be met with fair pay and conditions.

Instead, Horgan argues, unions must look outwards from their sectors and occupations, improving pay and conditions for jobs at the bottom of the ladder, while building enclaves of working-class power away from work.

Only then can we shelter our collective weight from the volatile winds of crisis capitalism. Horgan may be optimistic, but there is no denying a storm is on its way.

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Gayathiri Ganeshan never planned to become a public servant. But after interning for the Ministry of Justice in 2014, the path to meaningful social change opened up before her.

“I started working at Te Pae Oranga,” Gayathiri says. “We helped people overcome problems like addiction, abuse, and financial stress, which can lead to low-level offences.

“My mentors on the project showed me the immediate impact you can have. From that point on, I knew where I wanted to be."

CRITICAL DEVELOPMENTS

Eight years on, with an impressive career at the Ministry of Business, Employment, and Innovation (MBIE) under her belt, Gayathiri is a finalist for this year’s Young Leader of the Year at the annual Spirit of Service Awards.

The nomination recognises her policy work – carried out at the height of the pandemic – which informed some of the most important developments in Aotearoa’s Covid-19 response; from the border closure to the alert level system, vaccine purchasing, and the rollout of MIQ.

LIFE-SAVING LEGACY

Gayathiri says her team was motivated by the “importance of saving lives.”

“You could feel it from every person in the room,” she explains. “There were senior people hammering the phones.

“We mucked in together because we knew lives were on the line.”

We’re pleased to announce 24 finalists for this year’s Te Hāpai Hapori | Spirit of Service Awards!

Ka rawe! Check out the list of finalists and learn more at https://t.co/3DYwVKMenJ

A big thank you to our 2022 sponsors: @ANZSOG @DXCTechnology @WgtnBusGov @WestpacNZ @DeloitteNZ pic.twitter.com/IY4BZSPqvh

— Te Kawa Mataaho Public Service Commission (@TeKawaMataaho) July 7, 2022

TURNING THE TIDE

When Gayathiri first came to MBIE in 2018, she helped develop Government policy around Fair Pay Agreements.

Later, she worked on the Screen Industry Workers Bill – an ambitious project which Gayathiri describes as an “entire workplace relations system for the screen industry.”

The bill is a response to the so-called ‘Hobbit Law’ of 2010, which designates film production workers as contractors unless their employment agreement states otherwise.

“In practice, this means more than 85 per cent of screen industry workers have no access to the minimum wage, holidays or the ability to bargain collectively,” Gayathiri explains.

The Bill will turn the tide. When passed, it will grant collective bargaining rights to contractors across the sector, setting minimum standards for the screen industry as a whole.

COLLECTIVE ACTION

Gayathiri’s belief in collective action has motivated her throughout her career. “When the job you do is about improving outcomes for workers, you quickly realise the value of union membership.”

She is self-effacing when it comes to her nomination. “Talking about yourself, the impact you’ve had; it’s mortifying!” she laughs. “But it’s also nice to go on this journey of self-reflection.”

SHOT IN THE ARM

Gayathiri says learning about the work of the other nominees has “rekindled” her faith in the public
service.

“Not that it was lost,” she says. “But it’s a good shot in the arm, and a nice moment to reflect on the incredible work we do across the public sector.”

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