Nurses to weigh up $520m offer
‘‘We’re hoping for the best but we’re planning for the worst.’’ Health boards spokeswoman Helen Mason
District health boards have almost doubled their offer to nurses in a package worth more than $500 million over two years – but it remains to be seen if it is enough.
The New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) revealed yesterday morning that its 27,000 members had voted for two days of strikes on July 5 and 12 over pay and staffing concerns.
The strikes are dependent on what nurses make of a new offer, announced by district health boards spokeswoman Helen Mason yesterday afternoon.
‘‘The offer will invest $520m between now and mid-2020 for base pay increases, more staff and improving working conditions,’’ she said. ‘‘Almost half of that is new funding over and above the previous offer.’’
The NZNO was reviewing the offer. Industrial services manager Cee Payne said the health boards ‘‘unexpectedly’’ publicised the offer and the union would not be making any comment until its members received analysis of the new deal on Thursday.
The union previously said a vote would be held next week on the offer, which would determine if the strikes go ahead.
Mason said the health boards were planning for that possibility, but hoped nurses would ‘‘seriously consider’’ the revised offer. ‘‘We’re hoping for the best but we’re planning for the worst.’’
Mason said the latest deal was a significant increase on the recommendations made by the panel appointed to break the impasse last week. It included a 3 per cent pay increase from June 4, another 3 per cent from August 6 and another from August next year, as well as a $2000 lump sum to be paid on ratification.
The offer also introduces two new pay scale categories for registered nurses, and increases oncall rates. ‘‘The salary of a registered nurse with five years’ experience will go up by around $10,500 over 18 months – that’s almost $200 extra a week by the end of 2019,’’ Mason said.
‘‘By December 2019, the average take-home pay of a fulltime experienced registered nurse will be around $93,000 a year.’’
The Ministry of Health had also included an extra $38m under the deal to fund an additional 500 to 600 nursing positions, and a further $10m for safe staffing measures.
Earlier, Opposition leader Simon Bridges came out in support of the nurses’ position, blaming the Government for ‘‘ratcheting up expectations’’.
National’s health spokesman Michael Woodhouse took a similar line, blaming Labour for ‘‘raising expectations’’ and claiming there was not enough in the Government’s Budget to cover pay rises. Finance Minister Grant Robertson said there were contingencies in the Budget, but would not go into detail while negotiations were ongoing.
The union had earlier welcomed some of the independent panel’s recommendations, but said it fell short on pay expectations. Payne said it would take an 11 per cent pay hike for nurses to be back on pay parity with secondary school teachers.
A first meeting has been held between the parties to begin preparation for industrial action in the event union members again reject the offer.
‘‘We respect their right to take industrial action although we hope it won’t come to that and we look forward to discussing the revised offer with them,’’ Mason said. ‘‘Nurses, healthcare assistants and midwives are highly respected and essential members of the health team, our offer reflects that and provides a pathway to address their key pay equity and workload issues.’’
NZNO chief executive Memo Musa said should the offer be rejected, ‘‘full commitment to providing agreed life preserving services will be negotiated. ‘‘Patient safety is paramount. ‘‘We will be compliant with the Code of Good Faith for the public health sector.’’
The last, and possibly only, time nurses held a nationwide strike was in 1989.
The union’s submission to the independent panel included activist and registered nurse Josie Butler who said nurses worked a challenging job and were underpaid and undervalued.
The union’s submission said members worked long hours without meal or even toilet breaks, as well as unpaid overtime and extended shifts.
Asked if she felt nurses were being valued, Butler was quick and blunt with her response – ‘‘not at all’’.