No tally yet for work days lost to strikes
Nurses marched in their thousands for better pay last year, but the Government is yet to count how many decided not to show up to work.
Strike action has risen sharply in the two years since the Labourled Government came into power, in part on a platform of fairer pay and conditions for workers.
But just how many government employees went on strike is unknown, as it appears some agencies have not reported the data 10 months on.
Patchy data shows 2018 was the most strike-ridden year since
2005, with 143 ‘‘work stoppages’’ involving more than 11,000 employees. It may be the largest year for strike action since the
1980s.
But counting the days of work lost to strikes, there’s a clear problem with the data. The amount of work days lost to strikes sat at 192 for 2018, for the
143 strikes. In 2005, there were 60 stoppages and more than 30,000 work days lost to strikes.
A spokeswoman for MBIE confirmed the ‘‘work stoppage’’ data is incomplete, and said the ministry followed up with employers if aware of strike action taking place.
An interview request was declined by MBIE, answers instead being provided by email.
The spokeswoman said employers are obligated under law to provide work stoppage data within 10 days of strike action, but there is no provision Nurses rallied in central Auckland in 2018. The strike came after a last-ditch effort to avoid such action failed.
in the law for MBIE to enforce this.
‘‘No decisions are made by MBIE as a result of work stoppage data. This data could be used to inform policy reviews of employment law.’’
The Ministry of Education, which faced teacher strikes last year, said it had provided the work stoppage data. MBIE confirmed this.
Asked to confirm how many District Health Boards had failed to provide the information, the spokeswoman said it could only confirm when information was received.
Similarly, it could not confirm whether all government agencies or DHBs had provided the data.
Further questions were referred to the Official Information Act.
Nurses, midwives, and anaesthetic technicians were among employees of DHBs who took part in strike action in 2018.
The Ministry of Health does not collect work stoppage data for DHB employees.
Workplace relations lecturer at Massey University Dr Toby Boraman said there had been systematic under-reporting of strike action for decades.
‘‘Most employers will under report strikes because they want to prove the unions don’t have a lot of support.’’
He said, as far as he knew, the junior doctor strike was among recent action missing from the data.
‘‘The Government needs to be accountable to the taxpayer, and they need to provide accurate information.’’