Ko Marianne tōku ingoa.
I was born and raised in West Auckland, and I whakapapa to Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Pūkenga and Ireland on my mum’s side, and the United Kingdom on my dad’s side.
It is an honour and a privilege to stand here today, as a nurse of many years and as the chair of the Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO Regional Council for Tāmaki Makaurau.
I am here as a nurse, but also as a daughter, mother, sister, colleague and a proud union member.
I stand here because I want to see every nurse, every caregiver, every health-care worker in this country valued and paid fairly for the incredible work that we do.
Members have waited patiently
For generations, workforces dominated by women have been underpaid and undervalued. Our members have waited patiently, years in some cases, for pay equity claims to be recognised.
Yet this Government chose to cancel those claims overnight, pulling the rug out from under us, and widening the pay gap instead of closing it. That is unfair − do they really care about us?
Primary health care nurses, Plunket nurses, hospice nurses, aged care and community health workers, Te Whatu Ora nurses, all of us are the backbone of the health-care system, we are holding it together. Without fair pay, we lose staff to better paying hospitals or overseas. Without fair pay, our patients, our whānau and our communities suffer.
We are not asking for special treatment. We are demanding fairness, we are demanding to be valued, we are demanding recognition for the mahi we do.
Equal pay for equal work. The same fair pay for nurses in primary health care as nurses in hospitals.
Because this is not just about us, it is about the wellbeing of every New Zealander.
To the Government — hear us today, you cannot silence us. We will not give up. We will keep marching, we will keep speaking, we will keep standing shoulder to shoulder until every health-care worker in Aotearoa is paid what they are worth.
Because this is not just about us, it is about the wellbeing of every New Zealander. It is about the values of fairness dignity, and respect that we want for our tamariki and for the generations to come.
Together, united, we are strong.
- This viewpoint is adapted from Marianne Harris’s speech to the Women’s Day of Action rally in Auckland on Saturday.