About 400 NZNO members working for Corrections will strike for 16 hours from 6am to 10pm on October 23.
It comes as members face increasing workplace pressure as the prison population hits record highs — with more rapid growth on the cards.
With bargaining underway for several months, NZNO Corrections spokesperson Michael Pye said members were frustrated that Corrections refused to address safety concerns about its “overly arduous” on-call system.
He said Corrections needed to keep healthcare workers safe — ensuring enough staff were rostered on shifts to meet a growing prison population and increasingly difficult working environment.
“These essential workers also need an improved pay offer that is not a pay cut and reflects the cost-of-living crisis.
“Members have voted to strike to send the message to Corrections they need to show they value the work undertaken by these critical health workers.”
No end to the demand
The Ministry of Justice’s own 2024 projections for the prison population showed an expected 36 per cent increase in the next decade.
Government policies were driving the increase: The Ministry “expected to see more offenders receive prison sentences and for those sentences to be longer” its report said.
Last month media reported prison numbers had hit an all-time high of 10,881 — five years ahead of the Ministry’s own projections.
‘These essential workers also need an improved pay offer that is not a pay cut.’
The Corrections members’ decision comes after more than 36,000 Te Whatu Ora members voted to strike again on October 23 following action in September and July.
Pye said Corrections members would proudly stand alongside Te Whatu Ora nurses as well as teachers and allied health workers involved in their own strike action, “to tell the Government they must properly fund our most essential public services”.