Midwives to labour over litter

Striking South Canterbury midwives will embark on a beach cleaning exercise during their planned industrial action on Wednesday.

This comes after Midwifery Employee Representation and Advisory Service [Meras] workplace reps voted on Friday night to go ahead with the planned strikes.

‘‘The plan in Timaru is to gather at Patiti Point at 11am and do a beach clean-up as a community service,’’ Meras co-leader Jill Ovens says.

She said union members have been frustrated at delays in the bargaining process, but they were optimistic.

‘‘Because we are hoping to get a firm offer in the next few weeks, we didn’t want the strikes to be seen as being anti-DHBs or anti-Government despite the immense frustrations in getting to this point.

‘‘But of course nothing is settled until we get the DHB’s proposal in writing as an offer that we can put to our members to vote on. It has been a long struggle to get recognition of midwives that is not there yet.’’

The midwives’ union plans to go ahead with a 12-hour (9am-9pm) strikes across New Zealand from today to Thursday. Ten of the 20 midwives employed at Timaru Hospital are Meras members. The South Canterbury District Health Board also faces industrial action from junior doctors and hospital administrators this week.

At least 25 members of the New Zealand Resident Doctors’ Association [RDA] are planning a third strike for 48 hours from 8am tomorrow until 8am on Thursday.

NZRDA and the DHBs have spent two days in mediation in an attempt to settle the ongoing dispute around essential contract clauses that safeguard RMOs. A further round of mediation is scheduled for Friday, spokesperson David Munro said.

The third action is Public Service Association [PSA] members for twohour stop work meetings today.