Raw Deal at Maori Affairs

Mana (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 12, 25 December 1977, Page 1

Raw Deal at Maori Affairs

by a Staff Reporter

Bags of rubbish and cement in the hallways, scaffolding poking through office windows and thick layers of dust from constant sandblasting has made Auckland’s Maori Affairs’ building intolerable for both staff and clients.

The old, poorly laid-out Jean Batten building that houses the Maori Affairs Department is besieged by construction and demolition sites on both sides, sandblasting and scaffolding work to the outside walls and massive renovation work inside. Seventy-two per cent of Maori Affairs staff say the

present conditions are having a bad affect on their health and 94 per cent say their work efficiency has been affected, according to a recent P.S.A. survey. A Public Service Association spokesperson says there has always been plenty of noise around the building which fronts onto streets on three sides. But now there is added noise from sandblasting which is expected to go on until April, 1979, as well as renovation to the second and third floors of the building.

"The sandblasters have had to poke the scaffolding through holes in the windows which are letting the dust and noise into offices where staff are working and where clients are being interviewed,” says the spokesperson, who adds that the problem is being compounded by construction of a new building across the road and the proposed demolition of the old Victoria Arcade building right next door.

The second and third floors of the Jean Batten building are being completely renovated for the Probation Department which

moves down from its premises in High St next year. Mana inspected the building and found bags of rubbish and cement in the entrance to the building. People on their way to a Maori Land Court sitting at the time had to pick their way through the rubbish in order to get to the lift which Maori Affairs’ staff claim is often in darkness

after the lift lights falter. They add the lift occasionally breaks down altogether. While Mana was there people had to ride the poorly maintained lift which was being used at the time for carrying rubbish from the upstairs’ renovation work. The staff are very concerned at the impression clients must have when this is the welcome they get when going to Maori Affairs. The Probation Department will move into the Maori Affairs’ building with two floors of modern, sound-proofed and fully furnished offices awaiting them. Meanwhile upstairs the Maori Affairs section will have spruced up walls on the outside but the same poorly furnished and laid-out offices inside. The contrast has upset staff who feel the Government is treating them as a

second-rate department dealing with second-rate citizens. They feel that what’s good enough for Probation is good enough for them, and add that the Justice Department’s Land and Deeds section has just moved into modern private accomodation in the new National Insurance building in Victoria St.

There have been several meetings of staff and Public Service Association representatives about the situation at Maori Affairs. At time of going to print Mana believes the Maori Affairs staff are considering hourly work stoppages to protest the conditions which have been described as disgraceful by the P.S.A. chairman in Auckland, Mr G. W. Glover. The P.S.A says there is only one option, and that is for Maori Affairs to shift immediately to alternative rental accommodation until their section of Jean Batten building has been adequately renovated to suit staff and clients. However a recent State Services’ Commission report says there is little likelihood of this being possible even though there is at present a surplus of suitable accommodation in Auckland.