Internal Affairs Staff Ratify New Collective

September 24 2001

Internal Affairs Staff Ratify New Collective Agreement

The Department of Internal Affairs and the PSA are ready to sign a collective employment agreement ratified by 76 percent of the department's PSA members last week.

There are about 450 Internal Affairs staff throughout New Zealand who will be bound by the agreement. When signed it will cover the whole department and be the one collective for the department . Previously four agreements covered the department's unionised workers.

The staff have agreed it be a principled document to provide greater flexibility for them. The agreement was developed in a problem solving rather than confrontational approach to work and wage negotiations. It does not focus on prescriptive detail, exampled by a clause covering allowances which says no individual will be out of pocket as a result of working for the department.

Instead of the prescriptive detail the agreement states that expenses will be reimbursed on an actual or reasonable basis or according to entitlements.

Secretary for Internal Affairs Peter Hughes said the document is one of the first principles-based agreements settled in the public service under new industrial regulations legislation.

It took four months to negotiate and was coordinated by Robin Nicole for the department and Helen Douglas on behalf of the PSA.

ENDS

Contact: John Hathaway 025 2401518

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