Strike over and back to the table
Kiwi nurses will head back to work today after an unprecedented 24-hour strike that saw an estimated 70 per cent of the nation’s health workforce walk off the job.
In Wellington, about 150 people protested outside Wellington Regional Hospital.
Molly Price, 10, was one of those on the picket line, waving placards alongside her mum, Leah North, an elective surgery nurse at Wellington Hospital.
Her handmade sign read: ‘‘My mum’s a nurse and she deserves better together with all the nurses in the world.’’
North said her daughter didn’t need much encouragement to be a part of the picket.
Fiona Powell and Helen Moore, who have both been nursing in Hawke’s Bay for 35 years, joined the picket line in Hastings.
Moore spent much of Wednesday on the phone telling people their surgery had to be postponed.
‘‘The patients were really behind us,’’ she said. ‘‘They were sad their surgery had been postponed but were saying ‘we hope you girls get what you want, you deserve it’. That was heartening because we feel quite sick about having to do this.’’
Powell added: ‘‘It’s quite emotional. It’s the hardest thing.’’
For Hutt Hospital registered nurse Ady Piesse, the strike symbolised more than just a fight for better pay.
‘‘Better pay is not going to fix the health service but it is part of the problem,’’ she said.
‘‘The demonstration was about a better work-life balance for nurses, midwives and healthcare assistants.
Nurses began striking at 7am yesterday after voting to reject the district health board’s latest pay offer earlier this week.
As the nurses gathered in solidarity, New Zealand Nurses’ Organisation (NZNO) chief executive Memo Musa, who joined those picketing in Wellington, pledged a return to the negotiating table following the strike.
DHB spokeswoman Helen Mason criticised the nurses’ decision to down tools before the Employment Relations Authority had been able to deliver its recommendations following a facilitation process on Wednesday.
Musa felt Mason’s criticism of the NZNO for choosing to go ahead with the strike was ‘‘unfair’’. But the organisation was committed to reaching an agreement, and he indicated the NZNO would re-join negotiations after the strike finished today.
‘‘We will pick up where we left off. We are committed to finding a resolution to this negotiation impasse, so we will be back talking to DHBs.’’
When asked what a resolution would look like, Musa said: ‘‘I think we need to see what the offer on the table is and whether there can be any increase and improved funding to solve some of the problems we think are still outstanding.’’
NZNO industrial services manager Cee Payne said the organisation felt it had no other option but to walk off the job.
‘‘We’ve got some thinking to do. We’ve got to be considerate and talking to our members about what it is that they want us to do next.’’
Payne, who has been a part of the facilitation process, did not believe the strike would erode goodwill.
‘‘The process was a respectful one. We’ve got the same problem – there’s no further money on the table. We’ve just got to keep talking.’’
Finance Minister Grant Robertson said negotiations with nurses would start again after the strike action.
‘‘This negotiation’s been going on for well over a year. From a government point of view, we feel that we’re doing all that we can here but we’ll keep talking because that’s what you do in a negotiation.’’