Labour leader Chris Hipkins said police officers’ decision to reject the Government’s latest pay offer shows National’s priorities are in the wrong place.
The offer made to the Police Association included a $5000 pay increase backdated to November last year, two 4% salary increases this year and next year, and changes to some allowances, leave accumulation and short notice shift changes.
The association called the offer “insulting” and said it was slightly lower than the one offered, and rejected, under Labour.
Speaking to Breakfast this morning, Hipkins said: “Clearly, the police probably waited until after the election to continue [negotiating] because the then-National opposition was promising them all sorts of things.”
“And [National are] clearly not delivering on that.”
He said the offer shows the Government’s priorities are “wrong” because “they think that tax cuts are more important than police pay”.
“They’re basically betting the farm on tax cuts, and ultimately, New Zealand can’t afford to pay that price,” Hipkins said.
He believes Labour's offer while in government was “fair” but said he would’ve gotten back around the table to try to make it work.
“I never envisaged that getting back around the table would then result in the police being presented with a worse offer than the one they had rejected.”
Yesterday, Police Minister Mark Mitchell said, " At the end of the day, we are in a really tough situation economically” and that the Government was “doing the best we can”.
Hipkins called this argument “absolute hogwash” and criticised National’s plans to reinstate full interest deductions for residential properties.
He said: “$900 million a year in tax breaks for mega landlords, that’s going to result in a handful of landlords becoming millionaires solely from their tax breaks. I think that shows their priorities are wrong.”
“I do think police should get a better offer than the one that they rejected.”
At a media conference yesterday afternoon, Police Association president Chris Cahill said officers "want to start getting in the streets” and “make the public realise that they’re actually not being supported”.
Hipkins was asked if officers should be able to go on strike but said: “The people who would ultimately pay the price for that would not be the Government, it would be the NZ public.”
He said the current arbitration process could result in a better deal for police.
As for the ongoing negotiations, Mitchell said: "I'm doing the best that I can, and we're doing the best that we can as Government given the cards that were dealt to us, and we remain committed to it."
The offer comes as officers say they are understaffed and struggling to make ends meet as the cost of living crisis sees prices soar. Last month, 1News reported some officers were forced to use food banks.
Government has 'choices' - Police Association
Government has 'choices' to make around police pay - association president Chris Cahill said the Government has a “moral duty” to ensure cops are fairly paid. (Source: Breakfast)
Also speaking to Breakfast this morning, Chris Cahill said: “We’ve been waiting over a year to try and get something on the table that’s meaningful for our officers.”
“We’ve been mucked around by successive Governments.”
He said the Government has “choices” regarding what to focus on in a cost-of-living crisis and that "they’ve chosen to give landlords a tax break".
"It’s a choice they made, so they can also make a choice to give police officers an appropriate lift in pay.”
He said officers he's spoken to are really struggling to make ends meet.
“I got a report yesterday, two officers both in the police, have had to move home to live with their parents so they can get renters in to pay their mortgage,” he said.
While officers would rather get back around the negotiating table, Cahill said other actions like work to rule are being considered.
He said the Government has a “moral duty” to ensure cops are fairly paid since they can’t take industrial action.
“The Government needs to look after us.”
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