Will’s Word: Whenever the workers walk the govts should listen

Best wishes to the tens of thousands of workers, teachers, nurses, allied health professionals, AC staff, you name it, that are walking off the job today in what has been called one of the largest joint strikes in recent memory.

The Government meanwhile made a last minute plea for them not to strike, arguing it was unfair and would hurt ordinary people. Students missing school, patients missing appointments, all that jazz, but of course the strikes are going ahead today.

In that reality lies the failure of this government to acknowledge and put real solutions on the table. Because if tens of thousands feel compelled to strike despite ministerial appeals, that tells you something, doesn't it?

Workers don't believe their voices are being heard. The ministers said the action was unfair, unnecessary and a stunt targeting the government, in the words of Judith Collins, and yet the strike happened.

That gap between the workforce demands and what the Government offers is a failure of listening and meaningful engagement. I don't know, maybe it's just an oversimplified way of thinking, but to me, it seems whenever we have a right-leaning government, relationships with unions break down.

And so this government's response is classic of a right-wing government: it appears defensive, rather than forward-looking or solution-driven. It's easier to ask people to stay home than to address the underlying pressures: rising cost of living, understaffing, long hours and burnout.

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The unions point this out. By the time the Government reacts, the movement has momentum. Again, being reactive here underlines a governance failure. By asking workers not to strike and framing the action as harming students and patients, the Government ultimately risks alienating its own workforce and the broader public.

If the average teacher, nurse or allied health worker feels undervalued or ignored, morale goes down. If the public perceives the Government as dismissive of those workers, public trust also falls. This strike is thus a red flag about this government's inability to meaningfully engage with unions.

I'm by no means coming out this morning saying I'm a fan of unions, no way. But you've also got to recognise the value that they add and ultimately, fighting for better pay and staffing conditions, at the end of the day, we all deserve to have.

That's Will's Word.