Māori trade union leaders are mobilising ahead of Election 2026, warning that jobs, wages, public services and Te Tiriti are all on the line as thousands of workers take industrial action across Aotearoa.
Te Rūnanga o Ngā Kaimahi Māori o Aotearoa, the Māori arm of the NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi, met over two days in Te Whanganui-a-Tara last week to organise ahead of the November election.
The rūnanga says its message to Māori workers is straightforward — enrol, talk to whānau and vote.
The gathering comes against a backdrop of rising unemployment, public-sector restructuring, industrial action over pay and working conditions, and concerns about the loss of Māori and Te Tiriti capability within government agencies.
NZCTU says Te Rūnanga represents approximately 60,000 Māori workers across the union movement.
MĀORI WORKERS SAY THERE IS MORE AT STAKE
Te Rūnanga is openly campaigning for political change.
Its position is that Māori workers stand to lose significantly more if the current coalition receives another three years in government, and it is urging members to make sure their whānau are enrolled and participate in Election 2026.
That is a political position taken by the union movement rather than an independent assessment of the Government’s record.
But it comes as Māori workers confront some difficult economic indicators.
NZCTU’s own 2026 workforce survey found the cost of living was the leading election concern among respondents at 62 percent, followed by health at 58 percent, pay and workers’ rights at 37 percent and the environment at 33 percent. Te Tiriti o Waitangi was selected by 25 percent.
NZCTU has also described the labour market as being in crisis, with national unemployment reaching 5.6 percent and 171,000 New Zealanders out of work.
For Māori, unemployment has been running considerably higher than the national rate, intensifying concerns about who is carrying the greatest burden of the economic slowdown.
PUBLIC SERVICE CUTS HIT MĀORI
The rūnanga gathering coincides with another flashpoint for Māori workers — restructuring across the public service.
Almost 10,000 public servants walked off the job nationwide this week, involving workers from the Ministry of Social Development, Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, Department of Internal Affairs, National Emergency Management Agency and Ministry for Ethnic Communities.
The industrial action centres on pay and working conditions, with the Public Service Association saying workers have rejected offers that fail to keep pace with the rising cost of living.
But Māori union leaders say another issue sits underneath the pay dispute.
Māori and Te Tiriti-focused positions have been affected by restructuring across government agencies, including Te Puni Kōkiri, Te Arawhiti, ACC, WorkSafe, Kāinga Ora, the Ministry of Health and Statistics New Zealand.
The Government plans to reduce the core public service to around 55,000 workers by 2029, which could mean approximately 8,700 fewer positions.
JOBS AND TE TIRITI BECOME CONNECTED
For Māori public servants, union leaders argue the debate is therefore about more than individual employment agreements.
PSA Te Kaihautū Māori Jack McDonald told workers gathered in Wellington this week that Māori public servants had experienced the loss of jobs alongside pressure on Te Tiriti and kaupapa Māori within government.
The Government’s position is very different.
It argues reducing the size of the public service is necessary to cut bureaucracy, control government spending and redirect resources towards frontline services.
It has also defended its review of Treaty provisions across legislation as an attempt to create greater clarity and consistency.
That creates a sharp political dividing line heading towards November.
Where the Government sees a smaller and more efficient state, unions see lost jobs, increased workloads and weakened public services.
Where the coalition has questioned or reworked some Treaty-based government arrangements, Māori union leaders see an erosion of institutional capability supporting Te Tiriti.
60,000 MĀORI WORKERS WITH A POLITICAL VOICE
Te Rūnanga is not a separate organisation sitting outside the wider union movement.
The NZCTU constitution formally incorporates Te Rūnanga, with representatives from affiliated unions and representation within the organisation’s national structures.
The wider NZCTU now represents more than 370,000 union members across 32 affiliated unions, making it one of the country’s largest organised civil-society movements.
Its role heading into Election 2026 will inevitably be political.
Unions are campaigning on wages, pay equity, employment rights, health and safety, public services and the cost of living.
Te Rūnanga is adding a specifically Māori dimension — asking how those policies intersect with Te Tiriti, Māori employment, whānau incomes and the representation of Māori within the public sector.
THE BATTLE MOVES TO THE BALLOT BOX
The industrial action seen this week is one way workers can exert pressure.
The election provides another.
For Te Rūnanga o Ngā Kaimahi Māori o Aotearoa, the priority between now and 7 November is turning concern among Māori workers into electoral participation.
That means encouraging people to enrol, making sure whānau understand what is at stake and ultimately getting Māori workers to vote.
The union movement has made clear which direction it wants the country to take.
Voters will make their own judgement.
But after thousands of public servants walked off the job and Māori union leaders gathered to organise for the election, one thing is increasingly clear:
The workplace and the ballot box are becoming part of the same Election 2026 battle — over jobs, wages, public services, Te Tiriti and what the next three years will mean for Māori workers and their whānau.
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