John MacDonald: Our cops deserve better. Way better

It can be very tricky sometimes getting to grips with who’s twisting the truth, who’s exaggerating things, and who really are the victims and the villains when it comes to industrial disputes. 

And this dispute between the Government and the police over pay and conditions is no different. Although it is in a way. And I’ll get to that. 

But, for all intents and purposes, this particular pay dispute is over. Because when negotiations were going nowhere, it went to final arbitration and the arbitrator has ruled in favour of the Government’s final offer.  

In non-technical terms, the arbitrator has told police they can like it or lump it. Which, not surprisingly, they are furious about. And I think they have every right to be furious. Simply because it’s the Police we’re talking about here. 

And I think the Government —with all its talk about law and order— I think the way it is treating our police staff is shameful. 

In an industrial dispute, each side have their own axe to grind or barrow to push, which I thought about when I heard Chris Cahill from the police union on Newstalk ZB this morning. 

Being from the union, of course he’s going to be saying what he thinks he needs to say to not only make the people he represents feel like he’s out there doing the best for them, but also to try and win-over the hearts and minds of those of us who aren’t in the Police. 

Those of us who might look at this long, drawn-out dispute from the sidelines and think, for goodness sake, you cops are on a pretty good wicket and you just need to stop whinging about your pay and your conditions. 

And there are plenty of people out there who think that.  

I remember someone saying to me once that they see an awful lot of cops in their uniforms at their local fish and chip shop, and fish and chips aren’t cheap, so they can’t be doing that badly. 

So Chris Cahill has to try and minimise that kind of talk. Because, if more and more people start thinking that way, then he starts to lose the heart and minds of those who aren’t in the Police and we do start to think that the cops just need to get over themselves. 

To like it or lump it, as they’ve been told as a result of this arbitration process.  

But, for me, here’s where this situation is different from pretty much any other pay dispute. And I think we all need to think about it in this way too. 

For me, the one question that determines whether the cops have got my heart and my mind is this: Would I be prepared to do what they do? 

And the answer to that, for me, is “no”. Would I be prepared to take on someone off their face on drugs and get them somewhere safe? No. Would I be prepared to turn up to horrific road crashes and have the job of telling the families of the victims what has happened? No. 

Would I be prepared to go to work and not know whether I’m going to be spat at, shot at, at some point during my shift? No. In fact, you name anything that we expect our police to do, and my answer would be the same. 

So, if I’m not prepared to put my hand up - who am I to say that they need to pull their heads in, to just get on with it, stop banging-on about how tough life is for them, to say ‘we’re all finding things tough mate”. 

I’m not going to say that. And this is why I think police have every right to be outraged about the outcomes of these pay negotiations with the Government. 

They’ve been dumped on, as far as I’m concerned. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Canterbury Morning's Podcast with John McDonald
from NEWSTALKSB.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
It can be very tricky sometimes, can't it, to get
to grips with who's twisting the truth, who's exaggerating things,
and who really are the victims and the villains When
it comes to industrial disputes, and this dispute between the
government and the police over their paying conditions no different,
although it is a bit different in a way. I'll

(00:36):
get to that in the second But for all intents
and purposes, this particular pay disputes over because when negotiations
were going nowhere that went to final arbitration and yesterday
the arbitrader ruled in favor of the government, ruled in
favor of the government's final payoffer and non technical terms.
The arbitrainer has told police like all lumpet, which not

(00:59):
surprisingly the furious about. And I think they have every
right to be furious simply because it's the police we're
talking about here. And I think the government, with all
it's talk about law and order, I think the way
that's treating our police, our police staff in particular, I
think it's shameful. So the tricky thing is when there

(01:22):
are industrial disputes or paid disputes each side, and like
it or not, they can talk about, you know, setting
und the table, negotiating, blah blah blah, like it or not.
That's what it comes down to, doesn't it. Sides each
side involved in these things have their own acts to
grind or barried, a push or whatever you want to
call it. And this is what it was thinking this

(01:43):
morning when I heard Chris Carhill from the Police Union
talking to Mike. And let's remember too that that's what
the Police Association is. It's the union that represents police staff.
So being from the union, of course he's going to
be saying. This is Chris Carhill. Of course he's going
to be saying what he thinks he needs to say
to not only make the people he represents feel like

(02:05):
he's out there doing the best for them, but he
also has to say what he needs to say to
try and win over the hearts and minds of those
of us who aren't in the police, those of us
who might look at this long drawn out, long winded
dispute from the sidelines and think, for goodness sake, for
goodness sake, your cops, you're on a pretty good wicket.

(02:26):
You know how much I own. You're on a pretty
good wicket. Stop your winging about your paying conditions and
get on with it. And there are plenty of people
out there who could think that. I remember one time
someone saying to me that I see an awful lot
of cops in the uniforms at the local fish and
chip shop. Fashion chips aren't cheap, so they can't be

(02:48):
doing that badly. Yeah, there are people that think that,
So Chris Carhill he has to try and minimize that
kind of talk because of more and more people start
thinking and speaking that way. Than what happens is he
starts to lose the hearts and minds of those who
aren't in the police. And maybe we would start thinking that, yeah,

(03:10):
the cops just need to get over themselves to like
it or lump it as they've been told through this
arbitration process. But for me, here's where the situation is
different from pretty much any other pay dispute, and I
think we all need to think about it this way too.
For me, the one question that determines whether the cops
have got my heart and mind is this, would I

(03:32):
be prepared to do what they do? The answer to
that for me is no. Will I be prepared to
take on someone, for example, off their face on drugs
and get them someway safe.

Speaker 1 (03:46):
No?

Speaker 2 (03:48):
Would I be prepared to turn up to horrific road
crashes and have the job of telling the families of
victims what's happened. Would I be prepared to do that?

Speaker 1 (03:56):
No?

Speaker 2 (03:58):
Would I be prepared to go to work and not
know whether I'm going to be spat at, shot at
whatever at some point during my shift.

Speaker 1 (04:04):
No.

Speaker 2 (04:06):
The worst I get is called I was called a
knob by someone on the phone last week. That's the
worst thing that happens in my job. You could name
anything that we expect of our police to do, and
my answer would be the same. So if I'm not
prepared to put my hand up, who am I to
say that they need to pull their heads and just
get on with it and stop banging on about how

(04:28):
tough life is for them. Who am I to say stop? Look, mate,
things are tough for all of us. I'm not going
to say that. And this is why I think police
have every right to be outraged about the outcomes of
these pay negotiations with the government. I've been dumped on
as far as I'm concerned.

Speaker 1 (04:49):
For more from Caterbory Mornings with John McDonald, listen live
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