The Public Service Association (PSA) has filed legal proceedings in the Employment Relations Authority to prevent a Kāinga Ora proposal to cut maintenance staff in regional offices across the country and centralise them in Auckland and Christchurch.
The union says sacking and then rehiring workers on fixed-term contracts would place the homes authority in breach of its collective agreement.
“Kāinga Ora is proposing to cut maintenance staff in regional offices across the country and centralise them in Auckland and Christchurch. This would mean a net loss of 46 permanent roles with 36 temporary fixed-term positions expiring at various dates in 2026 and 2027 offered to staff,” said PSA National Secretary, Fleur Fitzsimons.
“Kāinga Ora has ridden roughshod over workers’ legal rights. The collective agreement is crystal clear: all change must go through the agreed change management process with proper consultation. Kāinga Ora ignored that obligation entirely.”
The union says maintenance supervisors and administrators in more than 40 regional offices could lose their jobs, with only those in Auckland and Christchurch retained and many existing workers would have to apply for fixed term roles.
“Kāinga Ora ran pilot programmes and proof of concept trials in Auckland that changed its organisational structure without ever consulting workers or the PSA as required under the collective agreement. It’s now relying on those pilots to justify the restructure. Workers have been presented with a fait accompli based on decisions they were unlawfully shut out of,” said Ms Fitzsimons.
“On top of that, Kāinga Ora wants to sack permanent workers and rehire many of them on temporary contracts doing the same work.
“Kāinga Ora says the fixed terms are needed because it hasn’t decided what it wants to do yet. That’s not a lawful reason for a fixed-term agreement under the Employment Relations Act. You can’t fire people and park them on temporary contracts while you make up your mind about their future.
“Fundamentally, we believe the proposal is flawed, there are better ways to deliver improvements to this critical service, but Kāinga Ora chose to ignore the views of those on ground who know how best to quickly and effectively look after the maintenance needs of tenants.”
The PSA is asking the Authority to halt the restructure, determine that the proposal breaches the collective agreement and the Employment Relations Act, and order Kāinga Ora to remove the unlawful fixed-term arrangements and consult properly.
“This is now a pattern. Government agencies are treating collective agreements as optional and workers’ rights as an inconvenience. Earlier this year the ERA ruled that FENZ broke the law by failing to consult on its restructure. MBIE backed down on its unlawful flexible working policy the day before a hearing, after wasting more than $100,000 of taxpayers’ money on outside lawyers defending its weak position.”
“The PSA will oppose these bad decisions at every step. We have taken on government agencies that have tried to turn a blind eye to clear obligations in collective agreements and won. Kāinga Ora should take note.”
A hearing before the Employment Relations Authority is set down for 21, 22 July.
