PSA Welcomes Withdrawal Of Suspension Of Disability Workers At Te Roopu Taurimu
Mediation is set to resume with disability support provider Te Roopu Taurima and the PSA following the withdrawal of a lockout and suspension of workers without pay by the employer, the PSA in return agreed to lift the strike notices.
Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau Trust is the country's largest provider of kaupapa Māori-based support for people with disabilities in residential facilities in Northland, Auckland, Waikato and Canterbury.
"We welcome the withdrawal of the harsh and oppressive suspension and lockout and as a result the PSA also withdraws strike action in support of the collective agreement," said Fleur Fitzsimons National Secretary Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi.
Te Roopu Taurima told the PSA it would suspend 38 workers late Friday without pay for six weeks in response to low level strike action taken in support of their collective agreement.
Last year the trust also locked out Kaitaataki (house leaders for residential disability support) preventing them from working the extra hours they rely on to earn enough to support themselves and their whānau, this forms part of legal action in the Employment Court.
The PSA and Te Roopu Taurima attended facilitation run by an Employment Relations Authority member recently. The Authority member then provided recommendations to settle the collective agreement.
"The PSA did not get everything we wanted but nevertheless agreed that we would recommend the outcomes to our members. Te Roopu Taurimu now needs to come to the party and accept the recommendations, this is the basis on which the PSA attends mediation. We will now return to mediation with the hope of settling this dispute.
"Our members want to put this dispute behind them, get the fair wages and conditions they deserve, and get on with their important work of supporting tangata."
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