Nurses strike goes ahead after Te Whatu Ora fails to get injunction stopping industrial action

The colour purple, signs, chants and toots of support from passing motorists made for lively industrial action from Gisborne Hospital Ward 5 nurses, fellow staff, supporters and whānau outside Gisborne Hospital yesterday. The nurses say working conditions in the ward are not safe and Te Whatu Ora - Health NZ is not listening to their concerns. Te Whatu Ora went to court in an attempt to get an injunction to stop the strike action. It was not granted. Picture by Rebecca Grunwell

Gisborne Hospital Ward 5 nurses yesterday celebrated victory in court but remain adamantly committed to alleviating safety and staffing concerns.

Nurses from as far away as Ruatoria joined a rally outside the hospital yesterday to support

Ward 5 colleagues in their one-hour strike that only went ahead after Te Whatu Ora failed in court action on Monday to seek an injunction to stop the industrial action.

Ward 5 nurses say they are concerned about staffing levels and associated safety issues for staff and patients, and have been seeking to have ward beds reduced from 25 to 20 since last year.

Gisborne Hospital New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) Ward  5 delegate Christine Warrander, who went to Wellington to support the NZNO, said it was disappointing Te Ora Whatu used resources on court action when these could have been used in the hospital.

“Their saying that they believed we were safe is a slap in the face. It has upset a lot of nurses that have struggled with the physical, emotional and mental anguish of constantly being short-staffed and unsafe.”

Ms Warrander said the judgement from the Employment Court was “a huge step not just for us, but nationwide for nurses”.

“The support we have been receiving has been a strength to us.

“Despite overwhelming evidence of physical and emotional trauma from the affidavits we gave in evidence, Te Whatu Ora still tried to argue that our workplace is safe.

“It simply isn’t safe and it is our patients’ wellbeing that is most at risk. Things have got to change before something goes seriously wrong that ends a nurse’s career and has lifelong consequences for people.”

Employment Court Judge Kerry Smith said Gisborne Hospital had 14 days to make contingency plans to cope with the strike scheduled for 1.30pm to 2.30pm.

Te Whatu Ora said it accepted that staff were under pressure but claimed the strike would make things worse.

Chief executive Fepulea’i Margie Apa said Gisborne Hospital had two priorities — ensuring patients had the required level of care; and working with NZNO to address the pressure on the hospital and staff.

Ward 5 health and safety rep and NZNO delegate Carole Wallis said nurses were disappointed with the court action.

“There were a lot of nurses celebrating on Tuesday afternoon when we got the word (when Judge Smith released his decision).”

“It’s taken such a long time to get here.”

Mrs Wallis said the situation was not indicative of a bad working relationship between employer and employee, but more of a breakdown in communication.

“We tried for some months to talk to them and get on the same page. It didn’t happen.”

Any Te Whatu Ora attempts to overcome issues were all in the long-term, not now.

“We can’t take it anymore. That’s why we’re here today.”

Ngāti Porou Oranga rural health nurse and NZNO delegate Gina Chaffey Aupouri took the afternoon off work and travelled from Ruatoria to support the Ward 5 nurses.

“If Ward 5 nurses aren’t safe, when our patients are admitted, are they safe?

“Together as nurses we stand together to make sure our patients are cared for because we care.”

NZNO chief executive Paul Goulter said the decision of the court upheld the absolutely vital right of workers to strike over health and safety matters.

But it was also a moral victory.

“These are exhausted nurses who have given everything they have for their patients for an extended period of time, and they have finally reached breaking point.

“Nurses right across the health system are not currently safe at work and to have denied them the right to strike over health and safety concerns would have been an intolerable injustice.

“These Gisborne nurses have been raising concerns for more than nine months, and, as the judge pointed out during the hearing, Te Whatu Ora had not managed to change anything at all to help them.

“This is simply not good enough from one of the country’s largest employers.”