Pharmacists Vote To Accept Health NZ Pay Offer

Kate
Green , Health Correspondent

Pharmacists
and Health New Zealand have reached an agreement on pay and
conditions, with members of the union voting to accept HNZ’s
latest offer.

Pharmacy Association of Professionals
and Executive Employees (APEX) members – which include
pharmacists, pharmacy assistants and technicians – will
receive a 2.5 percent salary increase from January 2026, and
a two percent increase in 2027.

HNZ spokesperson Robyn
Shearer said the health agency welcomed the decision, which
would affect about 300 workers.

“We would like to
acknowledge and thank APEX for its commitment to reaching
this settlement.”

APEX represents pharmacy workers
employed across Aotearoa, including those working for Te
Whatu Ora and in private practice.

Senior advocate
Denise Tairua told RNZ they began bargaining in mid-October,
prior to their old agreement expiring in
November.

“There’s a month between expiry and
commencement,” she said. “It was an issue for the members,
however, given some of the other things and improvements, it
was a small timeframe not to receive
back-dating.”

Other benefits included an increase in
HNZ’s contribution to membership fees. It had been a
longstanding practice for HNZ to cover less than the full
cost of membership fees for various professional
associations required for their work.

Those fees
ranged from $200 to $500 annually, she said.

“There’s
been a slight uplift in those, getting [HNZ’s contribution]
nearer to that 80 percent.”

A pharmacy engagement
group had also been formed, which would look at longstanding
issues around safe staffing, monitoring the use of
professional development funds, and the duration and
frequency of on-call periods.

The bar for ratification
was to exceed 50 percent. “We did have quite a good turnout,
so a high percentage of members voted to ratify this
agreement.”

“We’re quite pleased that this one didn’t
drag on,” Tairua said. “What’s really important will be work
we can do within the engagement group to look at
longstanding issues.”

Earlier this month, the union
also reached a settlement for its psychologists, with
similar pay increases to the pharmacy agreement, affecting
670 workers.

Health Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed
the ratification, saying it will provide stability for the
workforce.

“It recognises the valuable work they do
and the high level of skill and care they provide to
patients and their families each day,” he said.

The
increases to professional membership contributions, along
with other improvements to the collective agreement, were
“another step toward building a more stable and supported
pharmacy workforce that can continue delivering timely,
quality care for New
Zealanders”.

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