Nurses’ plea for pay equity
Fresh off their own paynegotiation win, nurses are working to ensure their voices remain heard in the wider – and still raging – fight for pay equity.
Members of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) fronted up to the education and workforce select committee yesterday with a simple but powerful message – that everyone, regardless of gender, deserves equal pay for equal work.
Despite recent pay strides made in her profession, Wellington critical care nurse Katrina Hopkinson said the situation many of her colleagues and others in female-dominated professions faced, remained dire.
‘‘Our remuneration is clearly less than comparable occupations but we pay the same price for milk, groceries, petrol, childcare and interest rates as every other worker in New Zealand.’’
‘‘There’s no discount at Countdown because you’re a nice nurse.
‘‘Our local bank tells nurses to leave the profession if they ever want to own a home in Wellington ... it’s not good enough.’’
Hopkinson, along with a handful of other NZNO members, spoke in support of the Equal Pay Amendment Bill, which seeks to make it easier for women to make and resolve a pay equity claim on the basis of sex.
The organisation’s industrial services manager, Cee Payne, applauded the Government’s leadership on the bill but said amendments were needed around union involvement in settlements, fairness and flexibility.
‘‘We must have legislation that provides for enduring settlements for women in the private and public sectors across our societies.’’
Late last year, nurses won a pay claim with district health boards, moving from 12 per cent to 15 per cent on basic rates.
Payne said they were now in the process of negotiating a pay equity claim with the State Services Commission.
While on the right path, Payne said there was still a lot of concern around nurses being enticed overseas where pay rates and working conditions were far better.
‘‘In Australia, nurses can be paid as much as $90,000 as a base rate with penal and on-call rates as well. The limit in New Zealand sits around $68,000.’’
Working at Wellington Hospital, Hopkinson had seen and experienced firsthand just how hard it was to survive and thrive on current remuneration rates.
‘‘We do extra shifts to make ends meet for the winter power bills. That means we’re not at home, not with our kids or our parents and not out in the communities that rely on us to advocate for them.
‘‘[Seeing] nursing as ‘women’s work’ or simply ‘caring’ fails to recognise the true value of nursing in 2019.’’
In her unit of 42 staff, Hopkinson said only a quarter owned their own home and many missed regular dental checkups because they were unable to afford it.
‘‘No-one ever thought they would get rich nursing but we thought we would be able to afford dental care and safe housing.’’
Labour MP Clare Curran said the committee had heard similar stories from other femaledominated professions and reassured the nurses that their concerns would be taken seriously
‘‘We are listening.’’