Justice workers to consider strike action

NEARLY 2000 union members at the Ministry of Justice are voting on whether to take strike action later this month, after fair pay negotiations for female workers stalled.

The proposed strike for court registry officers, victim advisers and others will be a twohour stoppage on September 19, the Public Service Association (PSA) said in a statement.

‘‘Our members at Justice work hard to keep the court system going,’’ PSA national secretary Erin Polaczuk said in a statement.

‘‘Many of them are women, and they do crucial jobs such as court registry officers, court reporters, victim advisers and Family Court coordinators.

‘‘They deserve to be properly valued for the work they do in making sure the justice system runs smoothly and fairly.’’

The average female employee at the ministry is paid 15% less than the average male worker, the PSA said.

It is a larger gender pay gap than the average public sector department of 12%.

The Government requires all public service employers to end the gender pay imbalance by 2020.

‘‘The PSA believes the ministry does not properly value some female

dominated roles — and our efforts to strike a deal to reduce this pay gap and have staff properly valued have so far come to nothing,’’ Ms

Polaczuk said.

‘‘These are not highlypaid workers: Last year, Justice had the thirdlowest average salary in the public sector, and we believe they are slipping back even further.’’

Ms Polaczuk said strike action is ‘‘always a last resort’’ but PSA members ‘‘feel like they have no other alternative’’.

‘‘The PSA remains ready and willing to negotiate in order to correct this unfairness.’’ — NZME

❛ The PSA believes the ministry does not properly value some femaledominated roles

— and our efforts to strike a deal . . . have so

far come to nothing