Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa — NZNO members are mulling two days of strikes as they fight for safe staffing in the country’s hospitals.
Previously, balloting was planned from Tuesday for a potential national overtime and on-call strike.
The partial strike would have run for a month from September 1 — members would refuse to work overtime or on-call.
However, member feedback over the weekend showed an appetite for further national strikes as soon as possible.
Now a ballot launches Wednesday on a potential two days of strikes in the week starting September 1. The strikes would run from 7am to 11pm on September 2 and September 4.
The ballot for members working at Te Whatu Ora would run for a week and allow time for notification if members vote to push ahead.
NZNO chief executive Paul Goulter said Wednesday’s strike went well with plenty of colour, “massive media” and the likes of marches in Auckland and Wellington.
“This is around building momentum . . . it’s really essential that the Government is aware that there’s another wave coming down the line at them unless they come to the table and negotiate a sensible outcome.”
At a glance
- On July 30-31 more than 36,000 NZNO members went on strike from hospitals around the country.
- Balloting is underway for local strikes in Auckland, Christchurch and Whangārei to follow-up the nationwide action.
- Now NZNO members are deciding whether to push ahead with two full-day strikes in a single week from September 1.
‘No problems here’
Member feedback came over the same weekend as the National Party conference in Christchurch.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said New Zealand needed to get into “saying yes” to jobs, growth and higher wages.
He congratulated Health Minister Simeon Brown for “actually fixing” the health system.
“Simeon, thank you for the massive contribution you make to our team and our country.”
It also came after the Government hiked fees paid to members of Crown body boards by 80 per cent.
Meanwhile, members at Christchurch, Auckland and Whangārei were notifying Te Whatu Ora of further local strikes this month.
NZNO has launched three weeks of online information sessions for members ahead of September. Full details available here.
July’s strikes and the latest ballot come after Kaitiaki revealed less than half — just 45 per cent — of registered nursing graduates were matched to supported-entry roles at Health NZ after mid-year finals.