PSA

via plantandfood.co.nz

Yesterday there was a report that scientists at Otago University have figured out the path that the Kiwifruit bacterial disease, PSA, took to get to New Zealand by analysing DNA.

I’ve been waiting for someone to suggest the introduction of PSA into New Zealand wasn’t accidental.  That it could possibly be a deliberate act of economic war.

Here’s the critical part of ODT piece   Read more »

Union members should be getting a discount not an increase.

Social media junky PSA Union Secretary Brenda Pilott who spends her working days tweeting on behalf of Union Members and Phoenix Football fans and fails to attend regular University of Victoria board meetings has increased union fees to members according to their updates on the PSA Website.

Union members have been hit with massive increases according to their press release as follows from their website:

“Fee Increases

PSA membership fees and salary bands change on 1 March.  While fee increases are never popular, most delegates accept the need for these increases to ensure the union’s continued financial stability so we can provide the support members need in such challenging times.”

Read more »

PSA fail to file Annual Accounts but has time to send 2,526 tweets – Observation by the Owl

As of 31st January 2013 the PSA have failed to file their annual accounts. For such a large organisation this is disappointing. The Annual conference was in September 2012 which meant the AGM accepted the accounts.

Observation by the Owl

PSA leader Brenda Pilott has sent 2,526 tweets (Brenda Pilott @PSAsecretary) and yet can’t find 10 minutes filing annual returns.

Let’s look at workplace productivity.

Let’s say each tweet takes 5 minutes. (Log on, type, review and respond). That is 12,630 minutes or 210.5 hours or 5.263 working days.

A working weeks worth of tweeting – not to mention all the recipients who get interrupted. No wonder we have productivity issues in NZ

Brenda Pilott normally enthusiastically supports everything Labour does, but last night she tweeted:

@iamseamusbrady @reedfleming @_rajy Just to be really clear. PSA is not affiliated to Labour Party and plays no part in who its leader is.

— Brenda Pilott (@PSAsecretary) November 13, 2012

Whilst strictly true, The Labour Party currently has six affiliates, all trade unions (RMTU, MWU, DWU, EPMU, MUNZ, SFWU) and the PSA isn’t one of them they are associates and fellow travellers, even helping with Labour’s asset sales referendum:

.@psasecretary You said last night that PSA isn’t affiliated with the Labour Party but this was in the PSA building i2.wp.com/www.whaleoil.c…

— Rajy S (@_rajy) November 13, 2012

The link to the image is this one, that I have previously blogged:

The Owl has been observant again:

40,000 Jobs lost says EMPU and Greens – Observation by the Owl

EMPU Bill Newson and Greens Co-Leader Mr Norman have been quoting 40,000 job losses in manufacturing since 2008 over the weekend.

Brenda Pilott from the PSA tweeted recently that the National Government has cut 5,000 jobs in central government.

Observation by the Owl

Department of Labour figures show:

Union membership for Manufacturing has decreased 14,579 from 2008 (65,025) to 2012 (50,446).

The PSA Union membership increased 3,003 from 2008 (55,333) to 2012 (58,336).

General Public Service numbers (combining Education, Health and Govt Administration Services and Defence) have increased in membership from 203,999 to 241,202 (up 37,203).

The Owl doesn’t like job losses as much as anyone else but I would greatly appreciate if someone from the EPMU, Greens or PSA could send a detailed list of the 40,000 losses by company and where the 5,000 government jobs were cut from?

Separating any losses from Christchurch should also be done – this is a unique statistic which over time will recover.

I am confused.

Yesterday the Owl revealed that the top 7 CTU Affiliated unions collected $78M in subscriptions within one calendar year as per their filed audited accounts.

Today the Owl can reveal that 60% of these subscriptions were paid in wages, salaries and benefits or in real terms to Union employees – $46,746,428.

Now I have been doing some calculations and tried to work out how many Union officials this has paid for. The PSA are very good at providing their staff numbers (131) – so on average that means an average Salary/Wage (including benefits) is approximately $80,000.00 per paid union official.

Now this is an average so I took a conservative view and said $70,000.00 average salary/wage for a Union official.

Owl’s Observation

The Owl does not care how Unions spend their money but $46,746,428 divided by $70,000 is 668 Union staff benefits from the rank and file fees.

What I do care about analyzing financial information for Union members as the Owl as they too need advocates. I just do this for free.

P.S. Helen Kelly your NZCTU Together Incorporated Accounts need to be filed (Balance date 31^st March 2012) – thanks. (This was the fund set up from the Union Change Implementation Fund $90,000.00. 2011 Accounts are already filed.)

Another post from The Owl to follow on from the post Saturday about the PSA:

Over the weekend Brenda Pilott (PSA Secretary) tweeted:

Libertarianz reckon there’s a gap for a party to downsize govt and cut public spending. Sorry chaps, National’s got that one covered.

September 30, 2012 2:52 pm via Twitter for iPadReplyRetweetFavorite

@PSAsecretary

Brenda Pilott

So I thought I would do some research. Brenda Pilott is from the UK and was a Librarian before working for the PSA.

•  She is a Director of Learning State Limited
• She is a Board/Council Member of University of Victoria (Wellington)

Her position at University of Victoria comes about because the NZ Council of Trade Unions gets to appoint a member on the Board – I have checked the other Universities and they don’t seem to have the same seconded position on their Board.

Learning State Limited is a joint partnership company involving the Government/Ministry.

Her Director Fees were $12,000.00 (as per the annual report)

Her Fees from the University was $2,240.00 (as per the annual report)

Brenda Pilott only went to 7 of the 12 University meetings for the year (58%)  – the bottom of the attendees 2011 – In 2010 she only went to 9.

Owl’s Observation

The tweet doesn’t make sense – she is on two taxpayer funded organisations, picks up fees for her services and was appointed to the University by recommendation and not by vote.

How can people on one hand sit on Boards which are making extremely good bottom-lines and tweet that National is cutting costs all over the place. The PSA makes six figure profits and still increases their fees on the rank and file. I cannot see how a Unionist who represents strong political views (refer PSA website) can hold such positions as it looks like a major conflict of interest.

Normally I would not care but surely “tweeting” about your bosses just doesn’t make sense to me. I am sure there is some very strong employment LAW about this?

On Twitter late at night when I was trying to distract myself from the events of yesterday Brenda Pilott sent me this tweet in response to a conversation about the extreme unlikelihood that Cactus Kate would ever work for a union:

Well @cactuskate2 perhaps you should consult your pal @Whaleoil about that. I understand he has some fanciful ideas about union finances!

September 28, 2012 10:59 pm via Twitter for iPadReplyRetweetFavorite

@PSAsecretary

Brenda Pilott

I responded that unions indeed have dodgy accounts to which her response was:

@Whaleoil @cactuskate2 I don’t think our very respectable auditors Deloitte would appreciate you calling them dodgy.

September 28, 2012 11:28 pm via Twitter for iPadReplyRetweetFavorite

@PSAsecretary

Brenda Pilott

Coincidentally when I checked my email was an analysis of the PSA’s financials by the redoubtable Owl.

Public Service Association – Members should ask for a discount on Union Fees (Observation by the Owl)

The PSA Members should ask for a discount on Fees.

I am amazed to read in their 2011 Financial Reports and Reports that they had to increase union fees to members because (paraphrased by the Owl for simplicity but from their Reports)

1. Increases to GST
2. Increases in Business costs
3. Ensure sound financial balance sheet

Members should note:

1. There were two major increases – Wages by $500k (no GST there!)
2. The second increase was $2.2M spent on travel and meetings yet they spent $400k on new IT projects including video linking all their site and upgrading all mobile phones for 131 staff (up two from the previous year  – yet travel and meeting increased $200k)
3. Their Balance Sheet is valued at $25M with $6M in holiday homes and made an operating surplus of over a $1M (excluding tax and depreciation)
4. The PSA have a number of staff on contracts doing project work – yet they are criticizing the number of consultants being used in the Public Service (Have I read this wrong?)

Observation by the Owl

The PSA earns a 6% -8% return on investment (depends how you calculate it could be higher %) therefore members should be reaping the benefits of their investment in IT and a $1M surplus is excessively high for an Incorporated Society.

My calculations are that each member should get a $100.00 discount from 2013 onwards.

The PSA is about to grill the Minister of Finance on changes in the PSA workforce and government workers environment at a conference on Tuesday. A clear message to the Minister will be given.

Back up the bus here…..government workers are exactly that – they deliver the services of the government of the day – The Owl accepts fair pay, good employer relationships and that delivery of core services is important. Public Service people do a good job and we need public servants.

Here is the rub.

This union is funded by the tax payer via deductions from their state derived pay – their 2011 Balance Sheet shows $25M worth of net assets and $5M worth of holiday homes.

Their wage bill is $9.997M and super contribution of nearly $600k. They spent $2.2M on meetings and travel.

And what does the PSA stand for – (direct from their website)

The PSA – New Zealand’s public sector union

The PSA – the Public Service Association/Te Pukenga Here Tikanga Mahi –is New Zealand’s largest union, representing 58,000 workers in central government, state-owned enterprises, local councils, health boards and community groups. Arguing for policies that improve public services and the working conditions of those who deliver them, we are a powerful public voice and a key player in New Zealand politics.

Purpose

The PSA’s objective is to build a union organisation able to influence the political, economic, industrial and social environments in the interests of the membership of the PSA.

The Owl is pretty gutted about Solid Energy – I think there is a solution to finding the $30M needed to save the coal industry. As their website says “state owned enterprise” which means there are members who are policy advisors about State Owned Enterprises.

So if we add the assets of the PSA and the EMPU – that totals $35M – job done

Questions:

Why is the Public Service Union goal to be a key player in NZ politics?

Shouldn’t the EPMU being talking to the PSA about their policy advice to State Owned Enterprises?

Does the Owl just keep missing the point and retire?

There is now empirical evidence that greedy public sector unions do fiscal harm.

Neither conservatives nor liberals disagree that these unions raise wages and employment for their members (i.e., firefighters, teachers and police). But research I recently completed finds a solid empirical relationship between public sector unions’ concentration and the size and cost of state government, suggesting that what’s good for the public sector employee goose might not be good for the taxpayer gander.

Over the last three decades, union membership in the private sector has fallen precipitously, from 24.2% in 1973 to just under 7% in 2011. Over the same period, public sector union membership jumped by 14 points, from 23% to 37%.

I wonder what the stats are for New Zealand. The private sector stats are roughly the same…it would be interesting to see the growth in PSA memberships. Just like the US public sector unions, The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees spent $87.5 million in the 2010 election, leading all independent groups, the PSA here is highly politically active.

Tenured, well-paid and politically powerful — all would suggest a link between union concentration and the size and cost of government. My study tested this hypothesis, and over the period of 2003 to 2010 found that a 10% increase in public union membership expands government by as much as 4.25%.

The damage that comes from that is quite large.

I compared these rating to public union density, yielding an unsurprising conclusion: Expanding union memberships worsen business climates.

States where union membership was highest (New York, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Connecticut, Hawaii, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Michigan, Washington and California) averaged 43.4 on the business climate index; the states with the least union concentration (North Dakota, Texas, Idaho, Louisiana, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, Virginia and North Carolina) averaged 13 on the business climate index.

Public unionism trends should be a concern for those interested in creating job opportunities outside of government, but also to union members, since they rely on businesses, their employees and customers to pay for the very government they are so expert in expanding.

Proof positive that unions are bad for everyone but their members.