The Green Party is supporting Department of Conservation staff who have found themselves the victims of the Government’s cuts to DOC funding, and are taking industrial action this Conservation Week.
“DOC staff are the victims of conservation funding cuts, just like the native species they protect,” said Green Party industrial relations spokesperson Denise Roche.
“DOC staff have enormous skills and experience that they should be recognised for. Their work is essential to protecting our most treasured species, and ensuring that pest species and plants don’t jeopardise those efforts.
“The Government is increasingly relying on corporate sponsorship and communities to work for free to do its core work, and now expecting staff to work just for the love of it.
“DOC staff and the species they protect deserve better than this; staff deserve to be valued for their skills and experience, and species deserve to be protected by people with those skills,” said Ms Roche.