Govt office staff to stop work

Press, 7 August 1985, Page 3

Govt office staff to stop work

Christchurch offices of the Social Welfare Department will retain only skeleton staff today, as those who are members of the Public Service Association will attend a stop-work meeting from 10.30 a.m. at the Horticultural Hall. About 500 members, almost a 100 per cent turnout, are expected to attend the meeting, which has been called to discuss a package deal offered by the department’s head office on higher duties allowance, general salaries, and the restructuring of staffing levels to allow for more staff to be employed. If the package is not accepted by members of the association, industrial action might be taken, said the Christchurch director of the Social Welfare Department, Mr Terry Comer. Today’s stop-work meeting will include clerical staff from the benefits and pensions office, accounts, personnel, typing, reception and interviewing staff, some social workers, and staff from area welfare offices. A service for emergency calls will be maintained at the department’s reception area in Cathedral Square. A skeleton staff will also be on duty at the department’s branches in Papanui, Hornby, and Rangiora. Some staff might not go back to work for the rest of the day after the stop-work meeting, said Mr Comer. “If that happens, we would be anxious that people do not try to contact us unless it is absolutely necessary,” said Mr Comer. People who normally dealt with social workers when reporting on matters such as child abuse should approach the-police if they had a life-threatening situation to report, he said. Tomorrow’s pay benefits will not be affected as they are direct-credited by computer to bank accounts from Wellington. Nationally, Social Welfare staff have been concerned for some time about the loss of staff to the private sector. “Our staff at the middle and basic levels are badly affected by the inadequate staffing levels,” said Mr Comer. The Christchurch department had a 40 per cent turnover of clerical staff last year. A high proportion of the staff was lost to the private sector. The high turnover was related in part to the difference in salaries between public servants and those in the private sector, said Mr Comer. “When young people find

they can get paid more in the private sector, they are not so willing to come to us,” he said. Consequently staff had to deal with the pressure of heavy workloads, a high level of overtime, fatigue, stress, as well as the demands on training resources, said Mr Comer. He admitted that some progress had been made in all these areas, but there was still the matter of salaries to be considered. “This is one (issue) on which there is considerable feeling.” The meeting will vote on possible industrial action. This would include limiting public office hours to between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., a ban on the preparation of statistical returns, a ban on overtime, and a ban on implementing any new policies. Telephone operators would only accept one call every five minutes during the restricted hours and none outside those hours. The meeting could decide to implement some or all of these if it decided on direct action, said Mr Comer. Such action had already been taken in most North Island centres, he said. The regional secretary of the Public Service Association, Mr John McKenzie, said he thought staff would be satisfied with the package deal. “I think the deal goes a long way to helping the problems,” he said. “We are really talking about breaking out of the old mould into a more liberal approach.” Staff employment officers in the Labour Department’s Christchurch office will hold a stop-work meeting on Friday at 3.15 p.m. at the Canterbury Public Library. They will also discuss staff shortages, and the pressures of work. The meeting will vote on possible industrial action.