Government also urged to compensate home support workers' fuel expenses
The New Zealand government is being encouraged to introduce accommodations, such as working from home, as workers take the hit from rising fuel prices due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
The Public Service Association (PSA) issued the call, asking the government to encourage remote work in the public sector, similar to what Vietnam and Thailand did, in order to save fuel.
"We're calling on the New Zealand government to take note of these overseas examples and also encourage public sector workers in New Zealand to work from home," said Fleur Fitzsimmons, national secretary of the PSA.
Fitzsimmons said working from home will reduce the demand on fuel and will cushion workers from the impact of increased petrol prices.
"Government could easily indicate to the public sector that more workers should work from home and it would overnight have a difference for those people," the PSA official said.
Compensate home support workers
The PSA also called on the government to compensate for the rising fuel costs for 23,000 home support workers in the country.
Home support workers look after New Zealand's most vulnerable people, including the elderly, disabled, and injured, by driving to them every day.
These workers are reimbursed at 63.5 cents per kilometre, but the PSA noted that the rising petrol prices are costing them a lot to get to work.
"If the Government is serious about relieving cost of living pressures in a targeted way, then it must follow through on today's promise and make it a priority to compensate them for rising fuel bills. It's the right thing to do," Fitzsimmons said in a statement.
"These workers were already being undercompensated before the fuel crisis. They are also disadvantaged by the Government's scrapping of a pay equity pay rise last year. They cannot afford to subsidise the cost of delivering essential government-funded services."
Requests for accommodation
The union's request for accommodation comes as governments across the world introduce measures to support employees in the wake of rising fuel prices.
Vietnam and Thailand have encouraged public employees to work from home and take up other energy-saving measures, such as avoiding overseas trips, to alleviate demand for fuel.
In the Philippines, the government also introduced a four-day work week, either through a compressed work week or a designated common day for working from home, amid an "urgent need to adopt strict energy conservation measures."
