Strikers and supporters walk down Queen St from Aotea Square on October 23, 2025. Photo / Michael Craig
Labour leader Chris Hipkins has criticised the Government for worsening the health system and putting workers under more pressure, at today’s nationwide union strike.
Thousands of firefighters and health workers went on strike today from Whangārei to Invercargill, following the record-breaking “mega strike” only one month ago.
More than 17,000 Public Service Association Union (PSA) health workers went on strike between 1-2pm today.
Hipkins told media at the Auckland Domain during the strike that the current situation was a “crisis of the National government’s creation”.
“They’ve taken our health system, they’ve made things worse. They’ve put their workers under so much more pressure, and all they’re asking for is decent working conditions and an opportunity to provide decent care to the people of New Zealand.
He said the Government is “more interested in picking a fight” than addressing the concerns of workers.
Hipkins said it would “be absolutely wrong” for the Government to allow the health workers’ collective dispute to continue into the new year.
He said Labour’s proposed three free doctor’s visits a year would help keep pressure off the health system.
A focus of Hipkins’ government would be to recruit more health professionals and to retain the ones New Zealand already has, he said.
Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall urged striking health workers to continue their fight.
“We respect you and your rights to seek fair pay and better pay for yourselves and your colleagues.
“That is not the behaviour you’re seeing from this Government. The Minister of Health deliberately goes out to pick fights with you and your union. That is not the behaviour of someone who wants to settle a dispute.
“I hope that you continue to keep this fight up because you deserve to be respected for the work that you do.”
Fire bosses said today’s nationwide union strike would “compromise public safety”, but the union said members had “no option but to walk off the job”.
Approximately 2000 New Zealand Professional Firefighters’ Union (NZPFU) members walked away from fire stations and workplaces for one hour from 12pm.
Fire and Emergency deputy national commander Megan Stiffler said the public needed to be “extra careful” with fire safety today, and claimed the union was putting public safety at risk.
“We will answer 111 calls during the hour and respond to fires in strike affected areas, but our responses will be delayed because our callouts will have to be covered by volunteers.
“We don’t see the point in putting the community at risk with this strike while that process plays out,” Stiffler said.
NZPFU national secretary Wattie Watson said the strike is a bid to try and get Fire and Emergency and the Government to act to address the dire state of the fire service.
“The NZPFU has worked hard to try and find a way through to settlement. We have been innovative in developing options for settlement and repeatedly urged Fenz [Fire and Emergency New Zealand] to return to the table willing to actually negotiate.”
Watson said Fire and Emergency dropped a 260-page restructure document that culls about 160 jobs without consulting with the NZPFU or the PSA.
“What we need is for Fenz to negotiate rather than continue to hide behind alleged government restrictions as a barrier to settlement,” Watson said.
The NZPFU said it is fighting for safe systems of work, better access to mental health programmes, efficient occupational cancer and illness processes, full reimbursement of occupational disease blood testing, fair and reasonable wages and other “important” claims.
The industrial action follows the “mega strike” on October 23, where tens of thousands of public sector workers went on one of the largest strikes in New Zealand’s recent history.
An estimated 100,000 workers, including doctors, nurses, teachers and prison staff, took part in the “mega strike”.
Health workers who went on strike today include Allied Health staff, mental health and public health nurses and healthcare assistants, and those covered by the policy, advisory, knowledge and specialist (Paks) collective agreement.
PSA national secretary Fleur Fitzsimons said workers were striking for safe staffing, fair pay and better conditions for patients.
“These workers are standing up for the public health system that New Zealanders need and deserve,” Fitzsimons said.
Since then, the parties have attended mediation through the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment, but no settlement has been reached, the PSA said.
“Unfortunately, Health NZ and this Government still refuse to hear concerns about the state of our health system. We need to see a commitment to fill vacancies quickly and staff hospitals properly.
“Health NZ’s offer would mean workers go backwards. The health system is currently being held together by these workers’ goodwill for their patients. It’s not sustainable, not fair on workers and doesn’t serve patients well either,” Fitzsimons said.
Life-preserving service staff levels have been agreed between the PSA and Health NZ for the duration of the strike, the union said.
Jaime Lyth is a multimedia journalist for the New Zealand Herald, focusing on crime and breaking news. Lyth began working under the NZ Herald masthead in 2021 as a reporter for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei.