Cost of living in Auckland driving police officers out of the super city

Friday, 17 August 2018

Many police are reconsidering whether they can afford to live in Auckland.

Many police officers are considering moving out of Auckland as their wages struggle against the soaring cost of living, Police Association members say.

Negotiations for better pay and working conditions have been under way between the Police Association and police bosses since late July. While police are unable to strike legally, Police Association president Chris Cahill in June warned the union was prepared for 'torrid negotiations'.

The difficulties of living and working in Auckland, a push for paid overtime as an alternative to time in lieu, pay adjustments and retention of experienced staff are among issues being discussed.

Cahill said the cost of living in Auckland has come to a head.

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'It's a significant problem that we're looking at it in this pay round, we need to look at other approaches around that - things like different rosters and things like that that mean people aren't necessarily travelling to work on as many days or at different times so they're not caught in traffic,' Cahill said.

Police Association President Chris Cahill said negotiations are expected to take a couple of months.

Teachers, who took industrial strike action for better pay and conditions on Wednesday, are another group sounding the alarm over the cost of living in Auckland.

A survey found last year that more than two thirds of Auckland's new primary and intermediate teachers were thinking about leaving the city due to the cost of living.

Cahill said retention of staff was another concern, reinforced by the promise of 1800 new police recruits.

'A significant number of those (1800) are going to Auckland, but if we're going to achieve that, we need to retain those senior staff,' Cahill said.

'One reason is … if they're going out the back door as quick as they're coming in the front door, but also we need to have the senior staff to mentor and supervise the new staff.'

A senior sergeant in central Auckland told Police Association publication Police News that after three decades in policing there, he has never seen such a high attrition rate, with many officers either moving to Australia or into civilian roles in Auckland.

One Auckland constable who Stuff has agreed not to name said she had two children and if her husband wasn't the main breadwinner she wouldn't be able to make ends meet .

'I didn't join for the money, like most police officers, but I'm lucky that I've got the option where the family isn't relying on my salary,' she said.

She knows of police officers who have been forced to move in with family and others who have had to leave the city altogether.

A new police constable's base annual salary is $56,106 and the salary doesn't reflect the risk and stress of the job, the constable said.

'I've had a knife pulled on me, I've had a meth lab blow up, I've had a cross bow and arrow pointed at me that was taller than me - there's definitely some very hairy moments,' she said.

Excessive overtime was another stressful reality of the job.

'You're always having to call people to try and get them to pick your kids up from school because you're stuck somewhere, where it's either dangerous or just follow up of paperwork from incidents before you can come home,' she said.

Feedback sent into the Police News by association members painted a picture of the struggles Auckland police officers were facing.

'People used to joke about cops living at home with the parents, now heaps actually are!' one member said.

A letter penned by an ex-police officer, who left the force to join the private sector, said they didn't want to end up on a clifftop mansion, they just wanted to one day own their own home and support their family.

Police deputy chief executive for people, Kaye Ryan, said police were currently in negotiations with the Police Association, which were entered into in good faith.

'We are not in a position to comment on the nature of the negotiations while they are underway,' Ryan said.

Cahill said the union hoped for significant progress in negotiations over the next couple of months.

'We'd rather get a good agreement than rush it, we do understand there's some frustration and members want to know what they're going to get but we're better to try and take our time,' he said.