Nurses from Royston Hospital, Hastings, protesting for better pay and conditions for the second time in less than two months on Thursday. Photo / Paul Taylor
Nurses from Royston Hospital, Hastings, protesting for better pay and conditions for the second time in less than two months on Thursday. Photo / Paul Taylor
Royston Hospital nurses are again joining their counterparts in Wellington in strike action for better pay, but they still have hopes that won’t take a third strike to get the message across.
The second Evolution Healthcare nurses’ strike action rally began outside Royston Hospital in Hastings on Thursday morning, withabout 50 attendees.
Two other rallies took place at private hospitals in Wellington - Wakefield and Bowen Hospital - with more than 230 New Zealand Nurses Organisation Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa (NZNO) members on strike across the country according to NZNO.
The nurses have been negotiating for about 17 months with Evolution Healthcare for wage increases to create pay parity with nurses who work for Te Whatu Ora.
The 24-hour strike began at 6.45am Thursday, with the rally at Royston taking place from 10am to 12pm.
NZNO demands include wages back paid at the rate of inflation (7.3 per cent), wages for 2022 onwards at Te Whatu Ora Pay Equity rates and the same public holiday and sick leave entitlements as Te Whatu Ora employees.
Strike organiser Lyn Williams said negotiations had broken down between NZNO and Evolution Healthcare again and NZNO members decided to continue with planned strike action on December 1 and 14.
NZNO nurses, including those at Royston Hospital, are still considering whether to withdraw a third strike action notice for December 14. Photo / Paul Taylor
“Last week we voted not to withdraw our strike notices for December 1 and December 14.”
