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Nurses' union says members are 'exhausted' and many are considering leaving NZ to work elsewhere

June 8, 2021

Surgical nurse Deena Cardon and NZNO lead advocate David Wait say without better pay, people will continue to leave the profession.

The nurses’ union says its members are striking tomorrow to demand better pay and work conditions, which it hopes will stop the “mass exodus” of people from the profession. 

Yesterday, the New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) voted “overwhelmingly” to reject the DHB’s second collective agreement offer and go on strike. 

About 30,000 nurses across the country’s public hospitals and facilities will walk off the job in protest from 11am to 7pm tomorrow, but life-preserving health services will stay running. 

Deena Cardon, a surgical nurse at North Shore Hospital, told Breakfast it was “very tough” for her and her colleagues to be taking strike action. But, she said it had to be done to ensure future patients wouldn’t be put at risk. 

“Burnout, exhaustion, considering working overseas. All of those things are very real and I see myself and my colleagues going through [that] on a daily basis.”

They say they are fighting for better pay and working conditions.

Cardon said if this continued, there wouldn’t be enough nurses to take care of patients in the future. She said she continued to keep seeing people leave nursing, and not enough people were coming in to replace them. 

She said the strike wasn’t just about money, and that it was about making sure the profession could attract and retain enough nurses so staffing levels could be safe. 

“[It’s about] stopping the mass exodus to Australia and private care and attracting them back into the public health system where we need them,” she said. 

NZNO lead advocate David Wait wouldn’t say how many of its members voted for strike action. However, he said he was pleased about the “unity” members showed. 

He said the second DHB offer did not significantly change from the first and didn't address staffing shortages and didn't provide a pay rate that would attract and retain people.

The union’s decision to reject the offer was prompted by the inclusion of a lump sum payment of $4000. This was a part payment on back pay that's owed to members through the pay equity claim that's expected to be settled at the end of the year. 

Wait said members knew lump sums didn’t actually lift pay rates in the long-term or improve the long-term issues that the health system faced.

“Those rates aren’t high enough now, and they won’t be high enough in the future if this offer was to be accepted.”

Had nurses accepted the latest offer, the nurses of tomorrow would still continue to be paid what they were now, plus a 1.38 per cent annualised increase, he said.

Wait said the union wanted a "profession-enhancing offer" from the DHBs that recognised the contribution nursing staff made.

The 8-hour strike is going ahead after 30,000 nurses voted against the latest offer, saying it wasn’t significantly different from the first.

He said bargaining would continue after tomorrow, and more strike action could be on the way if the DHB doesn’t change its position.  

Dale Oliff, a spokesperson representing the country’s DHBs, said they were disappointed by the strike action. 

“Our focus is ensuring patient safety and we’ve been working with the NZNO on plans to maintain essential hospital service to protect life and prevent disability,” he said.

“DHBs will try to minimise disruption with some non-acute and elective procedures deferred where necessary to reduce demand on services and reduce patient numbers as much as possible before the strike.”

Oliff said once the strike is over, it would resume negotiations with the NZNO. He said next steps are likely to include mediation or facilitation. 

“DHBs recognise the essential role of nurses, midwives and healthcare assistants in caring for New Zealanders and our offer included a range of lump sum payments and increases to base rates — especially for the lowest paid. 

“We anticipate bargaining will continue to focus on pay with our commitment to the wellbeing package, protecting the gains from the last negotiations and DHBs assurance to safe staffing.”

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