The majority of experienced nurses employed at Oceania are earning at least $9000 less than their public hospital counterparts, says nurses’ union.
The New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) and Service and Food Workers Union (SFWU) announced further strike action by their members for Wednesday March 7 after mediation in the wake of the March 1 strike failed to resolve the ongoing pay dispute.
Oceania chief executive Guy Eady was unavailable for comment at time of publishing but a public relations spokesman said Oceania was working to put on extra staff to ensure there was “minimal disruption” to residents and non-striking staff.
The strike will involve staff at 21 of the 59 Oceania facilities signed up to the collective agreement, which has been under negotiation since the last contract expired at the end of June last year.
The unions have been seeking a 3.5 per cent pay rise for a one-year contract back-dated to July 1 last year and ending on June 30 2012. Last week, Guy Eady said in a statement that Oceania’s wage offer was for three per cent over 15 months, which an Oceania spokesman said covered the period “from ratification of the new collective to until around May 31 2013”.
NZNO’s spokesman David Wait said the offer equated to a one per cent increase a year spread out over three calendar years.
Eady said in the statement that he “acknowledged the frustration” of the striking health care workers but that its three per cent wage offer was “fair and reasonable” and in line with the government funding increase.
Wait said all aged care nurses and workers are reluctant to take strike action and Wednesday’s strike (from 5am to 9am and again from 4pm to 6pm) was being held at rest homes where members felt most strongly and where action was thought to be most effective.
He said during last week’s two-hour strike, at least one Auckland rest home brought in untrained health care assistants and two bureau nurses unfamiliar with the facility to provide coverage, which was of “concern” to the union.
He said Oceania’s new graduate registered nurse (RN) pay rate compared favourably with the rest of the sector and district health boards ($49,600 compared to about $45,500 at DHBs),However, lack of automatic progress through the pay scale meant many experienced nurses remained on that pay rate, with the majority of RN members at Oceania being paid between $49,600 and $52,500 compared to the current DHB nurse base salary of $61,360 after five years experience (before the new DHB agreement comes into effect).
Wait said the favourable starting RN pay rate also caused issues as it attracted new graduates into aged care, which can be a potentially “dangerous” place for an unsupported new graduate to work without experience under their belt.
He said only a “tiny minority” of Oceania RN members made it to the top of the six-step pay scale of $57,700 compared to the automatic progress of DHB nurses after five years experience to $61,300. Wait added that most not-for-profit aged care providers paid very similar pay rates to the DHB sector.
Meanwhile NZNO members working at Radius facilities around the country have agreed to hold off strike action and to enter into mediation on March 13 over their stalled pay negotiations.
The Radius starting pay rate for health care assistants is currently $13 an hour and the top rate is $14.63.The RN pay scale starts at $40,700 and has a top rate of $51,400.
