{"id":382887,"date":"2026-04-16T18:21:28","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T18:21:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/382887\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T18:21:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T18:21:28","slug":"union-says-police-memo-on-pay-bargaining-a-bid-to-intimidate-members","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/382887\/","title":{"rendered":"Union says police memo on pay bargaining a bid to \u2018intimidate members\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cOn that day, police officers throughout the country will be making their feelings known by engaging in activities aimed at drawing police, public and political attention to their bid for remuneration that matches the risks they face in doing their job to keep New Zealanders safe,\u201d the association said.<\/p>\n

The campaign slogan is \u201cRepay the Risk\u201d.<\/p>\n

Association president Steve Watt said members were asking police, the Public Service Commission and the Government to \u201crepay the risks endemic in the role of a police officer\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose risks include exposure to violence and danger, unpredictable and traumatic incidents, increasing complexity in frontline policing, and the responsibility of protecting public safety.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe “Repay the Risk” campaign seeks remuneration that matches the risks police officers face.<\/p>\n

\u201cMembers feel that when it comes to their pay negotiations, they are essentially invisible \u2013 no ability to work to rule, no marching in the streets, nothing to capture the attention of politicians or the public. That is why we are doing things differently this pay round.\u201d<\/p>\n

The press release said a significant part of the campaign strategy was direct engagement with politicians through postcards being sent by members.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe welcome proactive engagement from MPs who often know the officers in their districts. I urge them to take some time to ask about the pressures driving this unique campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Thursday morning, a memo was sent to staff on behalf of Assistant Commissioner Deployment Jeanette Park.<\/p>\n

The memo, seen by RNZ, said police had always \u201cpositively engaged\u201d with the service organisations and had a \u201clong history\u201d of supporting staff in being able to advocate their position.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis does not change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Park said that before the bargaining it was \u201cimportant to remind you that our values continue to be front and centre of how we operate\u201d.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cOne of those values is professionalism: look the part, be the part, which requires us all to maintain standards and present a professional image to ensure our communities have trust and confidence in us.<\/p>\n

\u201cStickers, decals, ribbons, clasps, lanyards or other non-branded police material are not permitted on uniforms, or any police assets such as police vehicles, equipment, buildings, office spaces and noticeboards.\u201d<\/p>\n

Park said it was \u201cessential for us to maintain our professionalism to ensure New Zealanders have trust and confidence in us\u201d.<\/p>\n

Following the memo, the association wrote to staff.<\/p>\n

The email, seen by RNZ, said the association \u201crejects police\u2019s view that participation in the \u2018Repay the Risk\u2019 campaign is unprofessional\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur view is that it is highly professional to care about your terms and conditions and take collegial action to seek improvements, thereby aiding the viability of your occupation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are extremely concerned that this morning\u2019s P\u0101nui was an attempt to intimidate members and to undermine our campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n

The association said it was \u201cvital\u201d that members\u2019 right to participate in the union was protected.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour employer should respect that and refrain from imposing any restrictions inconsistent with other external material, such as claiming that because our campaign materials \u2013 wristbands and stickers etc \u2013 are non-police branded, they are not permitted within your workplace or while in uniform.\u201d<\/p>\n

Any members who experienced \u201cretaliation\u201d were asked to contact the union.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore \u2018Repay the Risk\u2019 was underway, Commissioner [Richard] Chambers was advised about the material that was to be distributed. No concerns were raised.<\/p>\n

\u201cAccordingly, association president Steve Watt has written to the commissioner outlining our concerns. We have also indicated our willingness to take things further if we must.\u201d<\/p>\n

RNZ has approached police for comment.<\/p>\n

\u2013 RNZ<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cOn that day, police officers throughout the country will be making their feelings known by engaging in activities…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":382888,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[198909,1040,42,192217,4754,96898,43,90,2744,675,312,15768,61,40,38,41,39,4483],"class_list":{"0":"post-382887","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-bargaining","9":"tag-bid","10":"tag-headlines","11":"tag-intimidate","12":"tag-members","13":"tag-memo","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-on","16":"tag-pay","17":"tag-police","18":"tag-says","19":"tag-sherwood","20":"tag-to","21":"tag-top-news","22":"tag-top-stories","23":"tag-topnews","24":"tag-topstories","25":"tag-union"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=382887"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382887\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/382888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=382887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=382887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=382887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}