It can be very tricky sometimes getting to grips with who’s twisting the truth, who’s exaggerating things, and who really are the victims and the villains when it comes to industrial disputes. 

And this dispute between the Government and the police over pay and conditions is no different. Although it is in a way. And I’ll get to that. 

But, for all intents and purposes, this particular pay dispute is over. Because when negotiations were going nowhere, it went to final arbitration and the arbitrator has ruled in favour of the Government’s final offer.  

In non-technical terms, the arbitrator has told police they can like it or lump it. Which, not surprisingly, they are furious about. And I think they have every right to be furious. Simply because it’s the Police we’re talking about here. 

And I think the Government —with all its talk about law and order— I think the way it is treating our police staff is shameful. 

In an industrial dispute, each side have their own axe to grind or barrow to push, which I thought about when I heard Chris Cahill from the police union on Newstalk ZB this morning. 

Being from the union, of course he’s going to be saying what he thinks he needs to say to not only make the people he represents feel like he’s out there doing the best for them, but also to try and win-over the hearts and minds of those of us who aren’t in the Police. 

Those of us who might look at this long, drawn-out dispute from the sidelines and think, for goodness sake, you cops are on a pretty good wicket and you just need to stop whinging about your pay and your conditions. 

And there are plenty of people out there who think that.  

I remember someone saying to me once that they see an awful lot of cops in their uniforms at their local fish and chip shop, and fish and chips aren’t cheap, so they can’t be doing that badly. 

So Chris Cahill has to try and minimise that kind of talk. Because, if more and more people start thinking that way, then he starts to lose the heart and minds of those who aren’t in the Police and we do start to think that the cops just need to get over themselves. 

To like it or lump it, as they’ve been told as a result of this arbitration process.  

But, for me, here’s where this situation is different from pretty much any other pay dispute. And I think we all need to think about it in this way too. 

For me, the one question that determines whether the cops have got my heart and my mind is this: Would I be prepared to do what they do? 

And the answer to that, for me, is “no”. Would I be prepared to take on someone off their face on drugs and get them somewhere safe? No. Would I be prepared to turn up to horrific road crashes and have the job of telling the families of the victims what has happened? No. 

Would I be prepared to go to work and not know whether I’m going to be spat at, shot at, at some point during my shift? No. In fact, you name anything that we expect our police to do, and my answer would be the same. 

So, if I’m not prepared to put my hand up - who am I to say that they need to pull their heads in, to just get on with it, stop banging-on about how tough life is for them, to say ‘we’re all finding things tough mate”. 

I’m not going to say that. And this is why I think police have every right to be outraged about the outcomes of these pay negotiations with the Government. 

They’ve been dumped on, as far as I’m concerned. 

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