Rival nursing union NZNO has come out in support of PSA colleagues’ rejection of a district health board pay offer, saying 0.7 per cent is a “paltry” offer.
Mental Health and public health nurse members of the Public Service Association have voted with fellow DHB PSA clerical to allied health colleagues to start industrial action on August 25.
Mediation is due to start next week to try and resolve the stalled negotiations of 8 multi-employer collective agreements (MECAs) covering more than 12,000 DHB workers.
The New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) today came out in support of their health worker colleagues, with industrial advisor Lesley Harry saying the pay offer made to them was less than the rise in the cost of living.
“That’s essentially a pay cut,” said Harry. “Why should any health worker subsidise the health sector by taking a pay cut?”
“The DHBs’ reason for the low pay offer is a ‘tight fiscal environment’. NZNO believes that’s a poor excuse,” added Harry in a press release.
“We’d like to see the DHBs prioritise their health workforce by changing their financial planning to put staff and patients first, and we would like to see the Government fund DHBs adequately and sustainably.”
The NZNO settled its last DHB nursing MECA – covering at the time about 25,000 registered nurses, enrolled nurses, health care assistants, and other health workers – in early 2012, and it is due to expire in late February.
