Public Service Association members took their industrial action to new levels at the Christchurch Court House today, knocking on the windows of a sitting courtroom to try to disrupt proceedings.
The members walked out at 10am in support of their claim for a pay increase - their first in three years they say.
They marched about the court precinct chanting and using loud hailers, while the court continued inside using non-PSA staff members.
After the mid-morning adjournment, the protesters moved outside the main police court, No 1 District Court on the ground floor, and continued chanting and shouting and knocking on the window.
Christchurch District Court Judge David Saunders responded by moving closer to the judge's microphone and the sitting continued.
However, the court is handling only urgent cases where people are in custody, and the status hearing session in the No 2 Court did not go ahead.
Staff were rescheduling all the cases disrupted by the action. Defendants and lawyers will be told their new dates by letter. The industrial action has now been going on for months, with PSA members working to rule or taking breaks at times that disrupted the normal sitting hours most days.
The action has sometimes escalated with walk-outs and demonstrations.
During the action, the Ministry of Justice has settled its pay negotiations with the other union that has members working at the Court House, the National Union of Public Employees.
The PSA maintains that its court staff are paid an average of 6.3 percent less than the rest of the public service.
