Gisborne Hospital nurses take their case to the public during a nationwide 12- hour strike in December over wage and patient safety concerns. Nurses and healthcare assistants across New Zealand are striking for 24 hours on July 30 after rejecting Health NZ's latest offer. Photo / Lewis Wheatley
Gisborne Hospital nurses take their case to the public during a nationwide 12- hour strike in December over wage and patient safety concerns. Nurses and healthcare assistants across New Zealand are striking for 24 hours on July 30 after rejecting Health NZ's latest offer. Photo / Lewis Wheatley
Gisborne Hospital nurses and healthcare assistants have joined 36,000 Health NZ colleagues around the country in voting to strike for 24 hours on July 30.
New Zealand Nurses Organisation members say Health NZ has failed to address their safe staffing concerns while their pay offer does not cover the costof living
Acting Health New Zealand chief executive Robyn Shearer said the agency was concerned about the prospect of further strike action by nurses and the impact it would have on patients waiting for planned care and specialist appointments.
NZNO chief executive Paul Goulter said there was strong support from members to take strike action after a new offer from Health NZ he described as worse than one in May.
“This latest offer fails to address concerns about safe staffing despite them being raised continually throughout the collective agreement bargaining process,” Goulter said.
“Health NZ data obtained by NZNO under the Official Information Act shows between January and November last year, 50% of all day shifts were understaffed across hospital wards in 16 health districts.”
To “add insult to injury”, members had again been offered a wage increase which did not meet cost of living increases and would see them and their whānau go backwards financially, he said.
Health NZ is offering a 3% pay rise over two years, plus two payments of $325.
Shearer said she was disappointed at the vote to take strike action when there was a reasonable offer from Health NZ still sitting on the table.
The offer would see a new graduate nurse on $75,773 get a total pay increase of $8337 (or 11%) by the end of June 2026 once step progression was included, she said.
A registered nurse on the highest step with a base salary of $106,739 would see their pay increase by $3224 to $109,963 by the end of June 2026.
“We acknowledge the hard work of our nurses, but the reality is that Health NZ is operating within tight financial constraints.”
