KEY POINTS:
Child, Youth and Family Services (CYFS) has given a $650 one-off cash payment to all staff who belong to the Public Service Association in recognition of the association's "partnership" with the service management.
The payment, made yesterday, was condemned by the National Party spokeswoman on CYFS, Anne Tolley, as bound to create "dissension" between association members and other staff.
"How would you feel working alongside someone who gets a payment?" she asked. "You might have been doing a better job but they get it because they are a union member."
A memo leaked to Ms Tolley by a non-union member said the payment was in recognition of the eight-year-old partnership between CYFS and the PSA, and the merger of CYFS into the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) last July.
"CYF and the PSA have worked together on a significant range of projects that have positively contributed to service development and delivery - most recently the pay and employment equity review, and the development of a new performance and development and assessment system," it said.
"As the CYF/PSA partnership enters a new era following the merger with MSD, it has been agreed to recognise the success of the previous and ongoing partnership between CYF and the PSA through a one-off 'partnership recognition' payment of $650 gross (pro-rated for part-time staff)."
A spokeswoman for the ministry said that the payments were justified by the success of the partnership. "The payment does not disadvantage staff covered by different agreements. Staff on individual contracts have different conditions that they agreed to with the ministry," she said.
A PSA source said similar payments had been made to PSA members in other government departments.
Ms Tolley said: "This is taxpayers' money but it's not in any of the financial accounts."
