Strike 2 for hospital midwives

Midwives and hospitals are preparing for a second wave of strikes next month.

On Friday, the union representing hospital midwives began issuing strike notices to district health boards (DHBs) for a series of 12-hour strikes over four days from February 11.

About 1100 hospital midwives and members of the union, Midwifery Employee Representation and Advisory Services (Meras), took part in rolling two-hour strikes over two weeks from November 22.

Meras members were covered by a midwives’ scale within the New Zealand Nursing Organisation (NZNO) collective agreement but wanted a separate deal that reflected their greater skills, experience and qualifications, Meras co-leader Jill Ovens said.

Facilitation with the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) began on January 14, and the next meeting is set for February 1.

District health boards spokesman Jim Green said the DHBs hoped facilitation would help avert the planned strikes. DHBs were committed to a separate pay equity claim for midwives and would apply any resulting determination from December 31.

‘‘In the meantime, DHBs have made a significant pay offer that will see midwives’ pay increase by up to $10,000 in the next 12 months.’’

Green said midwives who were members of the NZNO had accepted the terms of the settlement. ‘‘We won’t differentiate for our staff purely on the basis of which union they belong to, and we urge them to reconsider their position.’’

Meras has proposed lifting the starting salary for midwives from $49,450 to $56,788, which was equivalent to the second step of the nurses’ pay scale. It said DHBs paid new graduate nurses for their first year of clinical experience but midwives, who study for four years, were expected to self-fund theirs.

The authority accepted an application by Meras for urgent facilitation on the grounds that bargaining had been protracted, strikes had been ‘‘acrimonious’’, and a further strike would damage the public interest.

An authority member found the November and December strikes ‘‘did have an impact on the women and their babies requiring midwifery services’’ and the threat of escalating strikes would ‘‘substantially affect the public interest’’.

Ovens said the union made the application after the DHBs rejected a revised proposal on December 10. ‘‘There have been exchanges of documents and data. It’s a very positive process and I’ve been very impressed,’’ Ovens said.

However, the DHBs had not changed their position and both parties were planning for the strikes, she said.

The ERA facilitator can make recommendations about how the parties should reach an agreement, including a return to mediation, and the agreement itself. The recommendations were non-binding but both parties were to consider them in good faith.

Union members were also planning city marches throughout the strike period, concluding with a march on Parliament on February 14.

Union members are also planning a march on Parliament on February 14.