July 11, 2018
Years of inaction taint nurse talks
Nurses Organisation Kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku says tomorrow's strike has been years in the making.
If talks don't come up with a result today, nurses will walk off the job at 7am tomorrow – the first such stoppage in three decades.
They rejected the most recent offer that included lump sum payments, three 3 per cent pay rises for all members, and more funding for district health boards to address staffing issues.
Ms Nuku says nurses don't trust their DHBs after they failed to deliver on past promises to bring the workforce up to safe levels.
"It's nothing to reflect for the government of the day. This has been perpetuated through years of under-funding, the choices of nurses not being listened to despite always talking about safe staffing ratios that need to happen within workplaces, so as a consequence it's really difficult for nurses to trust there is going to be action after years of inaction," she says.
Ms Nuku says members believe the government still hasn't reached its bottom line.
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