The Green Party says the Government’s retrograde move to tighten up on Work from Home arrangements is the latest in a series of blows to the Public Service.

“This is shallow soundbite policy and a cheap shot to a public service that is being gutted by the Government,” says the Green Party Spokesperson for the Public Service, Francisco Hernandez.

“Our public service needs to be supported so it can support our communities. Undermining our public servants at every opportunity will only lead to an erosion of the services we all rely on.

“We saw firsthand during the pandemic the benefit of flexible work arrangements and how they can support people to achieve a better work life balance, being beneficial to productivity and morale.

“This gimmick Government wants to take us back to the pre-internet days when we lacked the flexibility to adopt working arrangements that work for our workers. This Government quite clearly mistrusts and undervalues the public service.

“How can the Government claim this is about improving the performance of the public service when it has repeatedly punched down on our public servants?

“It is laughable for the Prime Minister to claim that this will be good for the Wellington CBD when his Government has cut almost 7,000 public service jobs, which has had devastating down-stream effects to the local economy.

“If we want to reinvigorate the heart of our cities, we need to support public and active transport, bolster our urban density and stop gutting public services, slashing jobs and cutting incomes.

“Public servants should have the right to safe, decent and meaningful work that affords them the right balance of working from home and from the office. This should be a discussion between employers and employees, not something that is dictated by Nicola Willis.

“The Greens would reform our employment laws for all workers in New Zealand to enable flexible working arrangements, including working from home,” says Francisco Hernandez.

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