National have accused the Government of providing nurses with "massively inflated" pay expectations, after the latest pay dispute offer was rejected yesterday and the possibility of nursing strikes now looming.
National health spokesperson Michael Woodhouse asked the Health Minister today in Parliament's question time yesterday: "Does he accept that a material cause of the situation the Government faces is down to the massively inflated wage expectations raised by him and his Government that, despite his involvement in November and the Prime Minister's in February, were not met by the latest offer?"
It comes after the nurses union yesterday rejected a $500 million pay package that would raise nurses salaries by 9 per cent over the next 15 months.
It raised the prospect of the first nationwide nursing strike in 30-years , which if the pay dispute is not resolved, would begin on July 5.
However, Health Minister David Clark said the pay expectations instead came from the previous National Government.
"The demand from nurses for better pay and conditions was not created in the last eight months. It was created over the last nine years of underfunding and neglect under that Government," Dr Clark said.
Mr Woodhouse asked Dr Clark how many times nurses took strike action while National led the former Government. Nurses last went on strike in 1989, according to Nursing Review.
"I don't have responsibility for that period of Government," Dr Clark replied. "I do know... that the nurses became incredibly frustrated with the fact that the health system was underfunded, that they were increasingly stretched, and that frustration has now come to the surface."
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