Latest news with #HereTikangaMahi
Scoop
6 days ago
- Health
- Scoop
PSA Decries Closure Of Specialist Mental Health Facility Segar House
The PSA strongly objects to the decision released today to close Rauaroha - Segar House, a specialised mental health facility based in Auckland for some of New Zealand's most complex patients. "Despite the critical life-saving work done at Segar House, Health New Zealand has today announced its decision to shut this unique, much-needed service," Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi national secretary, Fleur Fitzsimons, says. "This is terrible news for staff, those who rely on the specialist support offered at Segar House and their loved ones. "We're calling on Health New Zealand and the government to reverse this decision and commit to properly funding Segar House. New Zealanders want - and deserve - public mental healthcare that serves everyone, even and especially those with complex needs." Segar House is a wrap-around service for mental health clients that incorporates several different kinds of therapies. Its emphasis on group work and positive social interaction is designed to help their patients re-integrate smoothly into normal life. "The team working at Segar House are devastated, they know this decision will have tragic consequences," Fitzsimons says. "Segar House has supported patients with highly complex health histories, with more than one diagnosed issue, as well as horrific early trauma well for many years. They can only come to Segar House when they've already exhausted all other options - it's the last option for these mental health patients. Te Whatu Ora first proposed closing Segar House in April this year, saying the facility was under-utilised. In response, staff criticised Te Whatu Ora's referral rules as overly restrictive. After pressure from the clinical team last year, Segar House trialled working with Primary Care Liaison teams to drop the barrier for admission and had good results with an increase in clients getting access to their intensive treatment. The PSA is also seeking legal advice following more recent revelations that Te Whatu Ora considered not renewing the Segar House lease last year, months before the closure proposal was tabled. Nearly 3000 people have signed a . The Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi is Aotearoa New Zealand's largest trade union, representing and supporting more than 95,000 workers across central government, state-owned enterprises, local councils, health boards and community groups.
Scoop
25-06-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Another Day, Another Attack On Workers' Rights - Employers Can Dock Pay Of Workers Who Take Partial Strike Action
The Government's anti-worker agenda has stepped up with the passing into law last night the right for employers to dock the pay of workers who take low level strike action. The Employment Relations (Pay Deductions for Partial Strikes) Amendment Bill allows employers to deduct 10% of a worker's wage for partial strike action such as not performing a task. "It's clear what the agenda is here, this Government wants to give employers even more tools and power to keep wages down and profits high," said Fleur Fitzsimons National Secretary Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi. "The new law is all about weakening the position of workers when involved in collective bargaining that becomes difficult to settle. "There are already only a small range of tools available to workers when negotiations fail. "Every time the Government takes away one of those tools, or puts a price on using them, the power imbalance gets worse, and workers pay the price. "The vast majority of collective agreements are settled without industrial action as employers and working people agree on pay and conditions but when that agreement is difficult to find, there are tools that both sides can use help to find agreement. This includes mediation or facilitation ordered by the Employment Relations Authority. "If that fails, low level strike action, agreed by union members through a ballot, is a tool workers can use to make their concerns loud and clear to employers. "If the Government keeps raiding the toolkit as they are here, they actually risk opening the door to escalating strike action and longer stoppages when the only tool left is a sledgehammer. "This is another win for employers, the latest in a long series of extreme anti-worker policies - cancelling pay equity rules, axing of fair pay agreements, the 90 day fire at will law, tightening personal grievance rules, low minimum wage increases and the prospect of cutting sick pay for part-time workers now on the radar. "This government has no shame in pursuing an agenda that is blatantly all about giving more power to employers and beating down on workers - the PSA will continue to resist strongly."
Scoop
16-06-2025
- Health
- Scoop
Cancellation Of Health Charter A Giant Step Backwards For Health And Community Support Workers
Hard on the heels of the cancellation of pay equity claims for thousands of hospital, health and community support workers, the Government's announcement today that they're dropping the Te Mauri o Rongo Health Charter is another callous twist of the knife, the PSA says. Minister Simeon Brown's suite of changes to the Pae Ora Act will see, among other things, a repeal of the Te Mauri o Rongo Health Charter. "The Health Charter set out shared values and principles to shape behaviours for how Te Whatu Ora will support and promote a safe working culture across health, including the funded community sector. Now it's gone, with seemingly nothing to replace it," Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi national secretary, Fleur Fitzsimons, says. "Hospital, health, and community support workers are already under immense strain. They're constantly asked to do more with less. And the high frequency of assaults by patients - particularly for mental health workers - is increasingly, frighteningly normalised." The PSA played a critical role in developing the charter, standing up a working group of health and community support workers shortly after Te Whatu Ora was established. It was developed by the health workforce for the health sector, and is a positive framework to lead and support the health system to develop relationships to achieve pae ora (healthy futures). "A functioning health system must commit to supporting their workforce and empowering them to speak out when their safety is compromised. Otherwise we'll just do what New Zealand has done for years, and drive out our highly trained health workforce to sunnier pastures overseas. "The commitment to a well-trained workforce with access to appropriate resources to develop their skills, as well as workers to provide person and whānau-centred services, are a challenge to this Government. "The coalition continues to show us who and what they value. It's very clear that they're continuing to completely under-value the workers, and especially the women workers, who prop up the system to serve New Zealand whānau when they need it most."
Scoop
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
PSA Supports Waitangi Tribunal's Call To Halt Regulatory Standards Bill
The PSA supports the Waitangi Tribunal's call to stop progressing the Regulatory Standards Bill until there has been meaningful engagement with Māori. The Public Service Association (PSA) Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi is deeply opposed to the Bill which is being fast-tracked by the Government despite overwhelming Māori and Tangata Te Tiriti opposition, and serious constitutional concerns. Driven by Minister for Regulation David Seymour, the Bill prioritises personal liberty and property rights while posing a direct threat to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the rights of Māori, PSA Te Kaihautū Māori Janice Panoho says. In an Interim report the Tribunal found that the Bill would be of constitutional significance and relevance to Māori but that Māori were not consulted. The Tribunal therefore called for a halt to the Bill until there had been meaningful engagement with Māori. On Monday (May 19) Cabinet approved sending the Bill for debate in Parliament, bypassing meaningful consultation and undermining the jurisdiction of the Waitangi Tribunal, which convened an urgent hearing last week in response to the bill, Panoho says. More than 18,000 individuals supported a collective Waitangi Tribunal claim (Wai 3470) led by Toitū te Tiriti and other Māori groups, reflecting the widespread concern that the Bill is not only anti-Treaty but actively hostile to all New Zealanders. "This legislation represents a serious constitutional overreach and an attack on the foundational principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi," Panoho says. "It entrenches economic ideology at the expense of Māori rights and tino rangatiratanga. Rushing it through Cabinet without proper consultation dishonours Te Tiriti and shows a complete lack of good faith by the Crown. Māori must not be an afterthought in legislative processes that could redefine our rights in law," Panoho says. "This is not neutral policy, it is a calculated shift toward deregulation and privatisation, one that threatens public accountability and undermines the government's ability to protect collective wellbeing. "By prioritising property rights over social justice, environmental sustainability, and Treaty obligations, the Bill fundamentally alters the role of government in a way that is unbalanced and deeply concerning. "The Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi urges all political parties and communities to reject the Bill. We must not allow our democratic processes to be hijacked by ideology that seeks to silence Te Tiriti, disempower communities, and privilege profit over people and planet," Panoho says. Note: The Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi is Aotearoa New Zealand's largest trade union, representing and supporting more than 95,000 workers across central government, state-owned enterprises, local councils, health boards and community groups.
Scoop
20-05-2025
- Health
- Scoop
Budget 2025: Nervous Wait For Thousands Of Public Service Workers
Tomorrow's Budget will lift the lid on how much further public services will be cut and expose the cost to underpaid women from the dismantling of the pay equity process. "Public services including our cash strapped health system cannot afford to face further cuts and job losses," said Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi National Secretary, Fleur Fitzsimons. "More than 150,000 women have been denied the pay rise they deserve from this disappointing decision to gut our pay equity laws with no prior notice before the election or even a Select Committee process so that New Zealand women could have their say. Tomorrow's Budget will make the scale of the cost to women clear. "We sadly predict Government will be starving many public service agencies and our health system of funds, just as they did last year, and that means further damage to the services New Zealanders rely on. "And we will see how the 'billions of dollars' set aside to fund pay equity settlements for underpaid women, will be freed up to fund the Government's tax cuts for landlords and make the Budget numbers add up. "This will be a mean and nasty Budget, built on taking money from care and support workers and others who had been expecting pay equity settlements before the goal posts were shifted, existing claims scrapped, all under urgency, and without a chance for their voice to be heard. "We call on the Government to reverse all cuts to public services, fund our health system properly and put changes to pay equity laws through a proper select committee process. "In health, the effective hiring freeze for clinical roles is putting patient care at risk, leaving health workers over worked, stressed and facing increasing risk from angry patients poorly served by the system. "Every day we see the price New Zealanders and communities are paying for the Government's short-sighted and rushed cuts to spending. "Just look at last week's damning report by the Auditor-General into Oranga Tamariki. Savings demanded by the Government meant the agency cut funding to hundreds of community service provider contracts, with little notice, without regard to the harm inflicted on the vulnerable children they support. "We have a meth crisis in this country - the Government slashed resources for border protection, which has only made that problem far worse. "New Zealanders can't afford any further cuts to public services. Too much damage has already been done." The Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi is Aotearoa New Zealand's largest trade union, representing and supporting more than 95,000 workers across central government, state-owned enterprises, local councils, health, and community groups.
