PSA MEDIA RELEASE
June 26, 2008
For Immediate Use

PSA Negotiates Settlement with Department of Labour

A PSA-led negotiating team has reached a settlement in its collective agreement negotiations with the Department of Labour and all industrial action by department staff is being withdrawn.

The negotiations cover 750 department staff who belong to the PSA. They’ve been on strike three times in the last two weeks.

They include border security officers at Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch airports, health and safety inspectors, immigration officers, labour inspectors and industrial mediators.

Their negotiations began in September last year and they’ve been seeking a fair and transparent system for setting their pay and a 4 per cent across-the-board pay rise.

Last week they filed two weeks notice of 14 24-hour strikes scheduled to begin next Thursday, July 3. A series of 14 two-hour strikes were set to start tomorrow, June 27.

“We are withdrawing all of the strike notices after reaching a settlement with the Department of Labour during negations over the last two days,” says PSA National Secretary Richard Wagstaff.

“It’s a good settlement and we’re recommending that PSA members at the department accept it.”

“We’ve negotiated major improvements in their pay setting system to make it fairer and more transparent.”

“We’ve also achieved a 4 per cent across-the-board pay rise that is backdated to January 1 this year,” says Richard Wagstaff.

The PSA will now hold meetings throughout the country at which Department of Labour members will be fully briefed before voting on the settlement.

ENDS

© Scoop Media