Should Statisticians go on strike?

More than 540 staff at Statistics NZ, who belong to the PSA, are stepping up their industrial action.

They stopped working overtime on Sunday September 30. The overtime ban will continue and a series of new actions will start on Sunday. (October 14)

“The new industrial action will disrupt the flow of data that Statistics NZ needs to compile key economic indicators,” says PSA National Secretary, Richard Wagstaff.

These indicators include the Household Labour Force Survey, that measures unemployment. The Food Price Index, that measures food prices every month, and the Consumer Price Index that tracks the rate of inflation.

From 10pm on Sunday (October 14) Statistics NZ field interviewers will start a four day ban on feeding data they’ve gathered, from throughout the country, into the department. The ban will continue until 10pm on Thursday. (October 18) Normally the field interviewers send the data direct from their lap top computers, or by post or courier, at least once a day.

“They will stop sending that data for four days, which will mean Statistics NZ will have to wait four days before it can begin analysing it,” says Richard Wagstaff. “We believe the department will find it hard to make up that delay because the staff who belong to the PSA have stopped doing overtime.”

“The Statistics NZ staff are stepping up their industrial action to show that they’re serious about their claims,” says Richard Wagstaff. “They’re frustrated that their negotiations have been going on since June and the department refuses to take their claims seriously and negotiate a fair settlement.”

The Statistics NZ staff are claiming the right to negotiate their pay, to hold onto extra leave for long serving staff and for field interviewers to be paid the same as their workmates who do interviews by phone. The field interviewers are paid $3.18 to $4.40 an hour less than phone interviewers for doing the same job.

-Statistics NZ Staff Step Up Industrial Action

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The visible hand in economics
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