Nurses to vote on revised pay offer
Members of the nursing union are set to vote on a revised collective agreement next week – but many are still unhappy with the offer.
The New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) revealed on Monday morning its 27,000 eligible members had voted for two days of strikes on July 5 and July 12 over pay and staffing concerns.
That prompted district health boards (DHBs) to almost double their pay offer to nurses in a package worth more than $500 million over two years.
Registered nurse Danni Wilkinson is an administrator for the Facebook page ‘‘New Zealand, please hear our voice’’. She thinks the vote will be close – but that nurses will still reject the deal.
The page – which has just shy of 40,000 members, sets out to allow nurses to ‘‘tell you, the public, about our stories, we are struggling, we are broken and we as nurses are hurt. We need your support.’’
Dozens of posts and comments on the page show what seems to be deep dissatisfaction with the new offer. Wilkinson said the general feeling among nurses was that the DHBs had ‘‘spun things’’ to make themselves look better.
‘‘The offer was terrible to begin with so it’s still well below the expectation ... it sounds OK on paper, 9 per cent is an all right number [but] we’re still well behind because pay rises over the past 10 years have been really inadequate,’’ Wilkinson said.
She felt the NZNO was ‘‘done’’ with the negotiations and wanted them to be over – but she understood that.
‘‘At the same time they are there to represent us and they need to listen to the fact that we have thousands and thousands of nurses saying: hang on, your job’s not done ...
‘‘But I understand that they have to work really closely with the DHBs and they need to maintain really good working relationships with the DHBs.’’
She expected the vote on the new offer to be close. ‘‘My understanding is that the last offer that the DHBs presented us that we voted on, a larger percentage of nurses voted than have ever voted before, which is fantastic.
‘‘I think this vote will be closer because I know there are some nurses saying: Well, you know, it’s OK, it’ll do. I’m hoping that we’ll maintain the momentum that we have got right now.’’
She had a feeling the vote would be a no – and hoped it would be.
NZNO said: ‘‘The revised DHB offer was forged out of the solidarity of NZNO members’ determination to achieve safe staffing levels and in turn, to see patient care improved in all of New Zealand’s public hospitals.
‘‘The NZNO DHB MECA [multiemployer collective agreement] negotiating team did its utmost to ensure member voices were heard and equally nurses, midwives and healthcare assistants have been hugely visible – by holding rallies around the country with a clear message that #HealthNeedsNursing.’’
NZNO members have from Tuesday June 5 to Friday June 15 to vote on the deal. The organisation has analysed the new offer for them – but it hasn’t made any voting recommendations.
If members accept the new deal by simple majority the NZNO and the DHBs will sign the agreement.
If not, the next steps would be serving notice for strike action, the NZNO said.
‘‘Pay rises over the past 10 years have been really inadequate.’’ Nurse Danni Wilkinson