Focus on workers in mayoral debate

Nelson’s mayoral hopefuls have outlined how their leadership would affect working Nelsonians, at a forum hosted by the Public Service Association.

‘‘Workers in Nelson are paying close attention to this mayoral election,’’ PSA organiser Ian Hoffmann said.

‘‘With a soaring cost of living, our members want to hear specifics from the candidates on how they plan to address cost of living and working conditions for those that keep our city running.’’

The Nelson City Council employs 125 PSA, mainly in libraries and customer service roles. As such, a large portion of the evening was dedicated to how the candidates would attract and retain council staff, and deal with bullying concerns as mayor.

Raising incomes and ensuring there was a concerted effort to improve the work culture at the council were at the forefront of oneterm councillor Rohan O’NeillStevens’ strategy.

‘‘I’ve heard some pretty horrible stories from people stuck on the same income for many, many years,’’ he said. ‘‘We need to lift wages and make sure that they’re ... growing as people stay in the workforce.’’

O’Neill-Stevens said the next council had to set high expectations of its next chief executive, who employed council staff, to improve the results of internal staff surveys.

‘‘We know we’ve got a problem, we get it reported up to us, but there has not been a concerted effort to change that.’’

He acknowledged that the problem would not be fixed overnight. ‘‘This is something that becomes an eternal and growing thing of actually making sure that this is a place that people not just want to work, but love to work. We need to invest in the public services that we want to serve our public.‘‘

Three-term councillor Matt Lawrey echoed similar sentiments, saying that hiring a good chief executive was critical.

‘‘We want someone who is really great at retaining staff, attracting new staff, someone who’s an excellent people person.’’

He also said the councillor-staff relationship was too hierarchical, with the two groups not spending enough time together outside of formal, scrutinising environments.

‘‘I know there’s a huge line between governance and operation, but we spend very little time together. We miss out on a lot of the human contact and connection that we benefit from.’’

Lawrey also floated the idea of building a new Civic House that would be ‘‘an even better place for staff to work’’, while the old building could be converted into affordable inner-city apartments.

Tim Skinner, also a three-term councillor, described the council’s staff as assets who had to be protected. He raised mutual respect as one of the best ways to achieve a good work environment.

‘‘It comes back to ... creating that common ground and respect at the table,’’ he said. ‘‘I have seen a lack of that bit of respect around the table, and I personally have stood up for the staff.’’

Skinner said he had built a good relationship with staff during his time as chairperson of the community and recreation committee.

‘‘I give the utmost respect to the staff I work with, and I know it’s reciprocal. It’s showing a bit of love. But as a council, as a mayor, you want to make sure you facilitate not just the physical-mental but the spiritual wellbeing of your staff.’’

Former Nelson MP Nick Smith highlighted the need for wages to keep up with inflation. ‘‘If staff aren’t being presented with a 7% increase, they’re actually going backwards in real terms,’’ he said.

Smith said his leadership could bring about a ‘‘major governance and management reset’’ to make the council a better place to work.

‘‘I have met with over a dozen staff who have left in the last 12 months. There is serious culture problems within the organisation.’’

He added that one of the first things he would like to do as mayor was to spend a day working in each part of the council to build relationships and better understand how the organisation operated.

Former three-term councillor Kerry Neal put an emphasis on communication with council staff. ‘‘We’re in a modern era where there’s a need for everybody to communicate, and I found that in the past we didn’t have that in council ... I expect it to stay.’’

However, Neal sparked laughter when asked about bullying and harassment of council staff.

‘‘Is it not perhaps because we’ve become a little bit too sensitive to criticism?’’ he said. ‘‘Because it’s not going to go away when you try to legislate it out. People will have differences of opinion, and you’ll have to deal with it in a positive way.’’

He tried to salvage his response by saying he would listen to options presented by the audience as to how to solve bullying in the workplace.

Richard Osmaston, leader of the Money Free Party, advocates for a money-free society. He pinned society’s woes on its dependence and greed for money.

‘‘In this society, nobody gets what they want, and it’s destroying us,’’ he said.

Without a reliance on money, people would work on what they wanted voluntarily and with integrity, Osmaston said.

‘‘The institutions are completely dysfunctional . . . when money’s involved, it toxifies every single relationship.’’

Feedback from PSA members was positive.

‘‘I take local politics seriously,’’ said PSA delegate Jenny Simms, who works for the council. ‘‘[The forum] was important for me, as I got to see which candidates were most committed to advocating for council staff. It was especially good to hear all candidates commit to engaging with staff and union delegates.’’