Nursing pay talks playing out in public

The ante is being upped in the nurses’ pay negotiations. Protracted disagreement was always going to happen, when, frankly, there is not enough money in the health system to give nurses exactly what they want.

Although, no-one is debating that they should be getting paid muchmore than what they’re on.

New Zealand’s biggest industrial action in decades is imminent – only to be staved off if the latest pay offer from district health boards (DHBs) is deemed sufficient.

Nurses have suggested that, because DHBs released it in a public press conference, it might ‘‘jeopardise [their] negotiating team’s ability to discuss the revised offer with DHB members in a constructive manner’’.

It’s a half-billion-dollar package that effectively doubles the DHBs’ previous offer to nurses and nurses are angry it was announced in the media.

We know this because of a press release sent to media by the New Zealand Nurses Organisation, saying so.

It’s one of nearly 30 public statements made by the union this year alone – more than half of which are related to the pay negotiations.

Nurses cannot have it both ways. They’ve been using the media to their advantage for the better part of a year and it’s fair – this is a matter of national importance that the public have an interest in.

New Zealanders want to know those charged with looking after patients are both adequately resourced to do the job safely and paid fairly for the important work they do.

And, like any public service salary, a degree of public scrutiny over the amount of public funds being spent is also necessary.

Public protests from thousands of nurses nationwide have taken up air time and column inches. News outlets have almost weekly carried tales of hardship or near misses because of the under-resourcing of New Zealand’s nursing staff.

To suggest that, because DHBs spoke publicly about their offer it might negatively impact nurses’ decision to accept it, holds a slight appearance of bad faith.

Make no mistake, the DHB move is part of a very clear strategy to try to regain some control over the public narrative in this brutal court. But DHBs have that right.

It would seem the Government is also on board, with comments from Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern this week that appeared to tread a careful line between staying out of the negotiations while pointing out the size of the offer.

‘‘This is a matter for negotiation.

‘‘But, by way of the deal, it is a doubling of what the district health boards last offered, it addresses some of the concerns that nurses raised around staffing issues with a pledge to bring on an additional 500 nurses into our nursing workforce.

‘‘It’s a 9 per cent pay increase and it also includes two new pay bands to address the fact there are currently only six for our nursing workforce.

‘‘It is a half-a-billion-dollar deal,’’ said the prime minister.

No-one is debating nurses aren’t overdue a significant pay rise, but neither does anyone believe it should be an infinite dollar amount. These negotiations are hard-fought, cut-throat, and they can be painful.

But that’s bargaining.

These negotiations are hard-fought, cut-throat, and they can be painful.