A still from the Christchurch City Council's new anti-abuse campaign. Photo: Christchurch City Council
Upset council employees in Christchurch have described being regularly racially and physically threatened by members of the public.
Christchurch City Council launched its 'Be Cool, Not Cruel' campaign on Thursday, highlighting escalating problems around abuse of council staff.
Several council employees recounted occurrences of abuse in a video posted to the council's Facebook page.
One man tearfully described being racially taunted after his communication was criticised.
"The next line is what blew me away… 'Is it because you're Tongan? Yeah, I was shocked because I'm a fiercely proud Samoan.
"I think that's the first time I've said it aloud and it's come out like that."
Another woman in the council's animal management team recounted being chased off a property by a man brandishing a tyre iron.
Council chief executive Dawn Baxendale said abuse towards staff was a key wellbeing concern and "happening daily".
In a video message to staff, Baxendale said she was extremely grateful and humbled by the willingness and bravery of staff across the organisation to speak up about this issue and the impact it has had on their lives.
Baxendale told RNZ incidents had surged "by the hundreds" post Covid-19, and seeing the stories on the video was "soul-destroying".
"The level of intolerance had significantly increased. That aspect of people striking out - those of us who are in public service are easy targets."
Reported incidents via the council's health and safety system skyrocketed by more than 206 percent over the past three years.
There were 615 reported instances of abuse in 2022 compared to 127 in 2019. A total of 14 incidents were reported in 2016.
Between 1 February 2020 to 29 November 2022, the council recorded 1471 instances of "verbal abuse, harassment and physical assault" towards staff.
From 1 January 2021 to 30 October 2022, there were 759 instances of abuse towards the council's citizens and customer services team. Of these, 89 percent were on the phone, 9 percent face-to face and 2 percent via email.
A council spokesperson said figures would under report the problem as customer service representatives had become accustomed to abusive customers and often don't tag them as 'abusive'.
Forty-eight percent of incidents were happening in the city's pools and recreation centres, followed by 37 percent in libraries.
"These are places that are warm and where people can go congregate during the day as well," Baxendale said.
Asked if frontline staff were leaving the council because of frequent abuse, she said it was "a real challenge for frontline staff anywhere".
She said police had been engaged in response to some incidents.
"My staff… every single member comes to work to actually deliver service to the public. We're all residents and part of the community here."
The problem was "undoubtedly" across-the-board and not limited to the Garden City, Baxendale said.
She suspected some members of the public, who were the worst culprits, may not care about the intended message of the campaign.
"This is unacceptable behaviour and we want the backing of the public."
