Claims include parity in pay and a range of other conditions with district health board collegues; an increase in study days and in professional development and recognition programme allowances; and improvements to leave entitlements. Removal of individual hospice exemptions from the MECA was another significant claim, NZNO advocate Lynley Mulrine said.
The previous MECA expired on August 31 and covered 520 members in 19 hospices.
NZNO’s negotiating team is Mulrine, Nelson-based organiser Daniel Marshall, and delegates Julie Fletcher (Harbour Hospice, Auckland), Nicki Twigge (Waipuna Hospice, Auckland), Rachel Clarke (Arohanui Hospice, Palmerston North) and Shelley Bignell, (Te Omanga Hospice, Lower Hutt).