Analysis: The Government needs to sort the police pay dispute quickly if it wants to hold on to public perceptions about being tough on crime, writes Q+A presenter Jack Tame.
The ongoing industrial dispute with police threatens to significantly damage the reputation of a government elected on a promise to crack down on crime.
After rejecting a 4% payrise in September, police were presented the same offer last weekend. The Police Association claimed to be so insulted, it refused to even put the offer up to its members for a vote.
Legally, police are not allowed to strike in the same way other members of the public service can. Educators and health workers can take to the picket lines but police can’t just walk off the job.
Nonetheless, reports suggest frontline officers are so unhappy with the latest offer, many are considering creative ways to protest it.
If the Government isn’t able to swiftly address their concerns, the discontent within police ranks could threaten broader public perceptions about the Government’s capacity to get tough on crime.
Police have been under massive pressure in recent years.
Law and order was one of the biggest concerns for New Zealanders heading into last year’s election, second only to the cost of living. But most of the blame for the recent increase in reported crime was directed at police leadership and at the policies of the previous government, rather than frontline officers.
Police Minister Mark Mitchell blames the tough economic conditions for the arguably miserly police pay offer, but it’s likely that public sympathies in any ongoing pay dispute will fall on the side of frontline officers rather than that of his government.
After all, the Government is asking a lot of police.
On top of their current responsibilities, they expect officers to uphold an impending law which will ban gang patches in public spaces. It’s the sort of law which sounds fantastic in the throes of an election campaign, but has the potential to be very tricky for officers to enforce in real life.
A matter of spending priorities?
NZ Police Association Te Aka Hāpai says the long-awaited wage adjustment tabled is a ‘kick in the guts’ from the Government and management. (Source: 1News)
The pay offer also comes at a time when the coalition parties are promising 500 new frontline officers within two years.
For any potential police recruit comparing conditions in New Zealand to the remuneration and benefits available for a similar job in Australia, an “insulting” pay offer must further tilt the balance in the Aussies’ favour.
There is always an element of brinkmanship in industrial disputes and if police and the Government are unable to reach an agreement in good faith bargaining, the dispute will be progressed into independent arbitration.
Both Mitchell and the Police Association will have tailored their respective offer and response with this process front of mind.
But even if an arbitrator sides with police, the Government risks an enduring perception it doesn’t appropriately value the complexity and danger of officers’ work.
Alfter all, it’s not lost on many that on the same weekend the Police Association was considering its “kick in the guts” pay offer, the Government confirmed $2.9 billion will go to landlords through the reinstatement of interest deductibility.
Governing is always about choices. Regardless of economic conditions, governments and ministers are forced to make trade-offs.
But if fiscal conditions are really so tight, comparing the relative fortunes of landlords with those on the thin blue line sends a curious and enduring message about priorities.
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