Union talks with council ongoing
A second meeting with the Invercargill City Council and a public service union is needed after a pay dispute was not resolved yesterday.
Representatives from the Public Service Association spoke with council about a proposal to cut staff wages.
Council chief executive Clare Hadley told staff in a newsletter last month those working fulltime would receive 100 per cent of their pay, those working part-time would get 75 per cent and those who could not work would receive 50 per cent of their wages during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Association national secretary Glenn Barclay said there were frank and detailed discussions between the association and council yesterday.
‘‘These talks will continue tomorrow [Tuesday] morning, so at this point it is premature to share details,’’ Barclay said.
‘‘The best scenario for all concerned is if council staff are paid properly, and we would all prefer this positive outcome is achieved through constructive talks instead of any other means.’’
A long-time library worker feels let down and angry at the pay proposal.
Many whose pay will be halved work at community facilities such as libraries and the pool.
‘‘For all the years I’ve given. For all the years I’ve worked for the library and that’s the kind of support I’m given.’’
The library worker initially felt guilty she could not work from home during lockdown.
‘‘It was really hard to let that guilt go,’’ she said.
‘‘So all that guilt surrounding it and then being told, actually ‘you’re not being paid’ as well, I thought ‘Oh thanks for that’.
‘‘Right from the start, she [Hadley] said we’re all in it together: what a joke.’’
The woman had annual leave to use and said her bank would support her, but was still unsure what the future held.
PSA organiser Jon Henning said the Government had asked that employers be kind and caring in these unprecedented times.
‘‘The highest paid have taken pay cuts and left the wages of their workers intact. This is exactly what the Dunedin City Council has done,’’ Henning said.
The association had 57 members working at council and some belonging to the Amalgamated Workers Union also worked for council.
The Southland Times asked Hadley about the PSA claiming pay cuts without consultation were illegal, if council took legal advice, if she was taking a pay cut, and what she would say to staff feeling undervalued.
Hadley responded: ‘‘I confirm that all staff were paid 100 per cent of their salary for the whole period of the level 4 lockdown irrespective of their ability to work.
‘‘As part of our process for identifying options for dealing with level 3, consultation was undertaken with the Leaders’ Forum. Everyone recognised the difficulty in balancing fairness to staff with fairness to the community.
‘‘As a result of the proposal, managers are currently in the process of contacting, consulting and working with all staff who are potentially affected.
‘‘No decisions on any change from that position have yet been made, other than that any changes agreed will be effective from 28th April onwards. We continue to be committed to working in good faith with our people.
‘‘No changes will be made until an agreement has been reached.’’
‘‘So all that guilt surrounding it and then being told that, actually ‘you’re not being paid’ as well, I thought ‘Oh thanks for that’.’’ Library worker