Heat on Govt in police pay offer
The Government is under increasing pressure to provide an acceptable pay offer to police as negotiations stall.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Police Minister Mark Mitchell both made social media posts from Christchurch last week, in which they paid testament to emergency service staff who responded to the mosque terror attack five years ago.
Many people commented on the posts and urged Luxon and Mitchell to improve the latest police pay offer, which some officers rejected as “insulting” and “disgusting”.
“Maybe give them a noninsulting pay offer, then,” one person said under Luxon’s post thanking Christchurch St John and police first responders for their service.
“How about paying these heroes more,” was another.
The latest offer included a wage increase of $5000 from November 1, 2023 and wage increases of 4 per cent from September 1 this year and July 1 next year.
The next meeting between the Police Association and police — the parties negotiating the offer — was set for this morning.
However, Police Association president Chris Cahill said last week’s meeting indicated there had been no increase in what the Government could offer.
Backpay remained a central issue. Cahill argued police had been waiting months for a pay offer that had been delayed and believed no offer would be agreed to without backpay to July last year.
Cahill was not surprised by the feedback Luxon and Mitchell had received online.
“We realise we’ve got great support from the public,” he said, adding that people were aware of how the Government’s proposed gang policies would increase workloads.
He said there had been an “unprecedented” response from association members critical of the offer. It was stark just how “hand-to-mouth” some officers were living, including waiting for payday to clear their bills and resorting to using food banks, he said.
Earlier this year, Mitchell warned a Government promise to train 500 new officers in two years would be challenged by recruitment drives from Australia, where police were better paid.
Cahill said talk of moving to Australia had “increased greatly” among members but he hadn’t seen large numbers leave yet. He noted many had been waiting for the pay offer to be finalised before deciding.
Mitchell, a former police officer, has cited the economic challenges facing the Government as one factor restricting improvements to the offer.
Cahill said officers were aware of that but said their “sympathy drained a bit” when they saw the Government “making other choices to spend or to give up potential income” — such as the $2.9 billion the Government would forgo over four years by reinstating full interest deductions for residential property.
Cahill was critical of Luxon, claiming the Prime Minister had shown through his public comments that he wasn’t across the issue.