Oamaru nurses plan strike

Nurses at Oamaru Hospital plan to go on strike for a day on October 20 over their pay claim.

Kay Squires of the Nurses Organisation said it would be the first of a series of stoppages to support the nurses' claims.

Mediation over pay negotiations broke down last month.

The union had been seeking a 7.5 per cent wage increase over two years to bring staff closer to parity with a multiple employer collective agreement in place in other district health board hospitals throughout the South Island.

Waitaki District Health Services deputy chairwoman Ele Ludemann said it supported the nurses' case and was pressing the Otago District Health Board for funding help.