Unfinished business for nurses, despite pay deal

A last-minute deal between Te Whatu Ora and the New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) has seen strike action averted across New Zealand, but a local delegate says important issues remain unresolved.

NZNO chief executive Paul Goulter said on Monday there was a high level of member participation in the ballot on Monday, but that the result was reasonably close.

“While a majority of members accepted the offer, the closeness of the vote shows there remains a serious level of concern and discontent amongst members,” he said.

“Many members see the offer as not helping address the shortage of nurses that is severely impacting on the quality of care they can provide for their unwell patients. It is pretty light on important issues such as health and safety at work and minimum staff to patient ratios.

Goulter said members strongly believed a lot needed to change.

NZNO delegate at Wairarapa Hospital Amber Cox agreed.

“There are items in the collective agreement that still need addressing,” she said.

Cox listed KiwiSaver contributions, allowances, and safe staffing levels among the things that needed to be resolved.

“We need to see nurses in charge of shifts getting a higher duties allowance,” she said.

“At the moment it’s a discretionary payment and the nurses are not always getting what they are entitled to.”

Cox said for places without software to assist with monitoring safe staffing levels, minimum staff numbers should be put in on a ratio basis.

“There aren’t enough nurses anyway. We still have big gaps in the rosters,” she said.

Wairarapa Hospital NZNO delegate Amber Cox.
Photo: File photo / LDR

“There aren’t enough people to put in, which is a bigger problem.”

Te Whatu Ora employer KiwiSaver contributions for nurses will go up to 3 percent from the current level of 2 percent. However, the NZNO had asked for 6 percent, which is what some other healthcare workers currently get. That request did not gain traction.

“Why should doctors at Te Whatu Ora get twice as much as nurses?” Cox asked.

“I am disappointed. I know the negotiators and delegates put in a lot of work,” she said acknowledging the majority vote.

The new collective agreement will be in place until October 2024, when fresh negotiations will start. At that time, the issues around KiwiSaver, additional payments for nurses with postgraduate qualifications, nurse-in-charge/nurse coordinator allowances and other safety related matters are expected to be discussed.

“I expect a lot of those issues to be on the table next year,” Cox said.

“I think everyone is just really tired from a very drawn-out process.

“It feels like the issues haven’t been resolved for me personally and for many of my colleagues.”

Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air.