Doctors at five Wellington practices to go on full-day strike tomorrow

Doctors at five Wellington iwi health provider practices will strike for one full day tomorrow in the final action in a set of rolling strikes, the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS) has announced.

Further strikes at Ora Toa Health, run by iwi Te Rūnanga o Toa Rangatira, are likely due to the provider's continued refusal to allow dentist employees to join the collective agreement, which would allow them to be employed on the same basis as General Practitioners (GPs), ASMS senior industrial officer Lloyd Woods said in a statement.

Twenty-one doctors at Ora Toa Health practices Cannons Creek, Mungavin, Porirua, Takapuwahia and Poneke have already taken part in five one-hour stoppages in the lead-up to tomorrow's strike. 

Mr Woods said the union regrets the impact the strike will have on patients, but said the "stubborness" of the employer was illustrated by their "refusal to budge, even when the GPs offered to accept a lower pay increase than that offered in return for the concession".

More information on tomorrow's full-day strike can be found here.