The Public Service Association (PSA) says public servants across the country will strike from 1pm on 9 September to send a clear message to their employers and the Government that they won’t back down on bargaining for better pay and service delivery.
Almost 10,000 public service workers from the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA), the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), and the Ministry for Ethnic Communities (MEC); the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE); and the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) will be involved in the industrial action.
“These public servants are facing pay offers well below inflation while working amid the devastating consequences of the Government’s public service cuts,” said PSA National Secretary, Duane Leo.
The Association said pickets and rallies are also being planned around the country.
The DIA, NEMA, and MEC strike will end at 6pm, the MBIE strike end at 5.30pm, and the MSD strike will finish at 3pm on 9 September.
“Despite months of bargaining for their respective collective agreements, these employers and the Government still refuse to hear concerns about the state of public services,” said Mr Leo.
“These pay offers would send public servants backwards. And these public servants are telling us that their agencies’ ability to deliver is getting worse. We need to see commitments to fair pay and proper resourcing.
“Tension has been building for months, and now it’s at breaking point: public servants are fed up with a government that overworks and undervalues them,” he said.
