New MSD Service Delivery collective agreement focuses on future

Union members in Service Delivery at the Ministry of Social Development are pleased to have settled a new collective agreement which gives staff certainty about their future in a time of change.

As well a pay increase, the agreement sets out how staff will be impacted by its future service plans, and a work programme to deal with those impacts.

Nearly 4000 PSA members voted on ratification, with an overwhelming majority supporting it.

"This is a great result for our members after a lengthy bargaining process," PSA National Organiser Kathy Higgins says.

"It gives our members a pay rise which is timely and well deserved.

"But it also spells out a pathway for how the Ministry will staff its plans to push more and more services online - which up to now has not been at all clear."

A number of collective agreements are currently being negotiated at the Ministry, and this is the first to settle.

"Our members in Service Delivery at MSD have been through a period of uncertainty about the impact of the Ministry’s future plans," Ms Higgins says.

"This is in addition to the changes many will experience as a result of the formation of the new children’s ministry Oranga Tamariki.

"Having a new collective agreement which sets out a work programme will give them some much-needed certainty, and the confidence their voice is being heard by the Ministry."

ENDS

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