Ministry still committed to resolving industrial action

The Ministry of Justice remains committed to resolving industrial action in a way that is affordable and fair to all Ministry staff, and an existing invitation to the PSA to participate in that discussion remains open, the Ministry of Justice said today.

“The Ministry values its staff and has negotiated in good faith. We have made a realistic offer to increase staff pay based on performance, rather than time in the job or across the board increases not related to performance,” Ministry General Manager Higher Courts Andrew Hampton says.

“The Ministry has already invited the PSA, during bargaining, to work with the Ministry to achieve an affordable solution. Part of that invitation is to work collaboratively to identify further productivity and efficiency gains in addition to the restructuring already implemented earlier this year. That invitation remains open,” Mr Hampton says

“The bottom line is that the Ministry cannot afford the current PSA claim. The Ministry has made the best offer it can in the current environment, and continues to favour a pay system that rewards performance, not time in the job.

“Obviously, the point of industrial action is to cause disruption. The Ministry is working hard to minimise the disruption to court users due to industrial action, but some impact is inevitable. We apologise for the inconvenience and appreciate court users’ patience and understanding while this is resolved.

“The Ministry believes the best way to make progress is to get back around the table, and invites the PSA to do so. The Ministry would expect industrial action to cease for that to happen”.

Notes:

Ministry records show there are currently 1711 PSA members among the Ministry’s approximately 3100 staff. Ministry figures suggest that currently, about half of PSA members are taking industrial action.

Ministry calculations of the PSA claim are about $113 million over three years. This calculation was done at the PSA’s request and is based on the Ministry’s understanding of the union claim. The Ministry is yet to hear why the PSA thinks this figure is incorrect, or what the union’s own figures might be.

The Ministry has already invited the PSA to participate in a collaborative process to identify cost savings and productivity gains without impacts on frontline services as a step towards identifying additional funding for staff pay.

ENDS

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