‘We are at a turning point’ — NZNO’s Te Whatu Ora bargaining team

We are at a turning point.

We (the bargaining team) have worked so hard to make Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand aware that a wage adjustment to support the increased cost of living, safe staffing, recognition of our senior nurses, employment of our new graduates and further cultural support for our Māori nurses are required to get an offer over the line for our membership.

Reducing or missing breaks, starting early to manage workload or staying late to finish — say NO.

We now need to know if you want to continue the fight, continue to advocate for our patients and colleagues for enforceable safe staffing, continue to say we are not willing to use our wages through a proposed pay cut in real terms and stop the voluntary and hard shifts we work everyday to prop up the public health system.

Are you still in it? We are.

The other option is to ask Te Whatu Ora for an offer to take to ratification. Currently there have been some minor wins but the key claims remain unanswered.

Please fill out the NZNO survey — emailed this week to all Te Whatu Ora members — and indicate your view of the way forward. Further engagement and industrial action like re-deployment strikes, visibility strikes and other targeted actions may be needed.

Health budget ‘not safe’

I just ask that you consider what our employer has done to our working conditions since Lester Levy took over the board in 2024.

You need to know that our employer is not able to provide safe staffing due to lack of enforceability of the calculations made by tool CCDM (care capacity demand management). You must know about the lack of resourcing, to hire enough staff, across all sectors.

The budget given to Te Whatu Ora is a choice of this Government and does not support a safe public health system.

We need to stop roster smoothing, say no to extra shifts when we are exhausted, speak up when under pressure on shift and use all escalation tools available to us.

If we want safe staffing, in the survey you need to ask the bargaining team to push on. During bargaining we are able to take industrial action and demand a better deal. Outside of bargaining we are limited to the Health and Safety at Work Act which is costly and difficult to enforce.

While we are demanding safe staffing (yes, nurse burnout rates and empty promises have led us here), it is important to be aware that Te Whatu Ora does not have the resources and money to make this happen.

While we can strengthen the enforceability of CCDM, our only acuity tool, through collective bargaining, this is limited in scope until Te Whatu Ora is funded adequately to safely staff its hospitals.

Only members can make safe staffing happen

I also implore you to be aware that we — the members — are the only ones who can make safe staffing happen. We need to stop roster smoothing, say no to extra shifts when we are exhausted, speak up when under pressure on shift and use all escalation tools available to us to try and reduce the voluntary hours we perform.

Reducing or missing breaks, starting early to manage workload or staying late to finish — say NO.

Auckland members on strike last September.

I personally find this very difficult due to the effect on patients and colleagues, so I understand how hard and mentally exhausting it is to practice this. If we collectively do this, we will effect change. If we don’t, nothing will change and we will continue to cover the gaps and run faster.

I know many members are tired, frustrated and mentally drained from our work environment and don’t have time for union updates. But taking time to do this survey (before February 17) allows you to participate and support better pay and conditions.

Final point: The ‘Government does not care or has no money’ belief. Yes, it is hard to progress our cause in this political environment but unless it is all rainbows and sunshine in your work area, do you have a choice?

Thanks so much for wading through this. Look out for the survey via email or QR code in your workplace. Thanks so much for continuing to look after the people of Aotearoa.

Dawn Barrett is a registered nurse at Greenlane Clinical Cantre in Auckland and member of the 2024-26 NZNO-Te Whatu Ora bargaining team.

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