Justice system compromised by strike: society

An ongoing two-month strike between court staff and the Ministry of Justice is causing major disruption and needs to be resolved soon, says the president of Auckland District Law Society.

Anna Fitzgibbon said the protracted strike was having major ramifications for all court users, defendants, victims, lawyers and judges.

The national strike over pay by staff of high courts, district courts and tribunals has caused huge disruption, with court cases being delayed and adjourned, which is not only expensive but also very stressful for all parties involved, Ms Fitzgibbon said.

"The staff of our courts and tribunals play an immensely important role in the smooth running of the judicial system and in their absence, the justice system simply cannot function effectively.

"Without debating the rights and wrongs of this dispute, the specialised skills of court staff members needs to be recognised with fair payment for the valuable work they perform," she added.

The ministry last week said all options for settling expired collective employment agreements had been exhausted.

Public Service Association (PSA) members have taken rolling strike action in recent weeks over both the stalled negotiations and a pay differential between its court and tribunal staff and the rest of the public service.

PSA national secretary Richard Wagstaff said the ministry needed to acknowledge that it was paying its staff 6.3 percent less than the rest of the public service because it has an unjust pay setting system.

- NZPA