Frontline Ministry of Social Development workers are warning that cuts to security staffing at service centres could put both staff and clients at greater risk, with their union calling for the changes to be stopped.
The Public Service Association says MSD is pressing ahead with reducing security staffing from three guards to two at 20 service centres, despite strong opposition from workers at the affected sites.
A PSA survey found 74 percent of members at impacted centres opposed the reduction, with workers raising concerns that a two-guard model could leave only one guard actively covering a service centre while the other takes a break or deals with another incident.
PSA National Secretary Fleur Fitzsimons says workers have reported increasing aggression, lockdowns and difficult interactions with clients, and argues MSD should conduct an independent review of its incident reporting before reducing security.
The union says the 2014 Ashburton Work and Income shootings, in which receptionist Peggy Noble and case manager Leigh Cleveland were killed, remain firmly in the minds of frontline staff when workplace security is discussed.
The PSA also disputes MSD’s reliance on incident data to support the changes, arguing security guards regularly defuse situations before they escalate to the point where a formal incident is recorded. That is the union’s assessment, rather than an independently established finding.
The dispute comes as MSD staff face wider pressure across the public service, with the PSA arguing rising unemployment, cost-of-living pressures and changes to welfare obligations are contributing to increasingly stressful interactions at service centres.
For Fitzsimons, the central question is whether saving money on security is worth taking additional risks in workplaces serving some of the country’s most vulnerable whānau.
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