Midwives settle pay equity fight
"We need more midwifery staff in hospitals as soon as humanly possible." New Zealand College of Midwives chief executive Karen Guilliland
Midwives have settled a fight for pay equity following mediation with the Government.
The New Zealand College of Midwives (NZCOM) has withdrawn its court action after the Government promised a 6 per cent pay increase and a place at the table for community midwives to design their pay structure and working conditions.
NZCOM chief executive Karen Guilliland said the agreed pay increase was ‘‘only a start towards addressing the existing pay equity gap of 30 per cent’’.
She was confident midwives would be able to negotiate more through a redesign of the overall funding model.
The settlement would affect community midwives who provided a lead maternity carer service to pregnant women and were self employed. It did not cover hospital midwives, employed by district health boards.
The settlement was legally binding and NZCOM could resume court action if the Ministry of Health failed to follow up on its promises, Guilliland said.
The mediation started in August 2016, a year after NZCOM lodged a high profile equal pay court challenge.
They alleged then that the ministry’s pay levels breached gender rules under the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act.
Almost all of New Zealand’s 3000 midwives are women.
The average self-employed midwife in New Zealand earned $2200 per case, including 10 months of consultation and care and being on call 24 hours a day for the mother, NZCOM said at the time.
Guilliland said she was pleased with the mediation’s outcome.
‘‘For the first time in New Zealand history, midwives will themselves be designing pay structures and working conditions for community lead maternity carer midwives.
‘‘We will be working with ministry officials on this re-design process.’’