Central Hawke's Bay drivers toot up a storm in support of primary health nurses

CHB primary health nurses Mary Beale, Leisa Sowelu and Bec Mazzeo were roadside in Waipukurau protesting the lack of pay parity for primary health care and Plunket nurses. Photo / Rachel Wise

The traffic was noisier than usual at the Tavistock Hotel intersection in Waipukurau on Thursday.

There was tooting, honking, the blaring of airhorns from trucks and the occasional shout-out as motorists expressed their support for placard-waving CHB nurses May Beale, Leisa Sowelu and Bec Mazzeo, who were part of the protests by primary health care and Plunket nurses taking place across the country.

Primary health nurses walked off the job, nationwide, for four hours on Thursday after more than a year of failed pay negotiations with their employers.

They are asking to be paid the same as those employed by Te Whatu Ora - Health New Zealand, saying they currently earn up to 20 per cent less, with Māori and iwi provider nurses up to 25 per cent worse off.

The primary health and Plunket nurses have rejected an offer of a 3 per cent increase, and further talks have stalled because employers say they do not have enough government funding to offer any more.

The three registered nurses work at Waipukurau's Tuki Tuki Medical Centre, and Leisa said they decided to take their message to the public when they realised there was no official public action organised for Hawke's Bay.

"We are just a small group, but we have a lot of support. The other nursing staff and some of the GPs at the Tuki Tuki Medical Centre are very supportive of our protest action and we have had great support from motorists and the public - not to mention from The Rookery Coffee House, who provided us with much-appreciated cold drinks."

Leisa said there would be a lot more nurses attracted to the rural sector if the pay were equal to that of the hospitals.

"All winter, we have had staff shortages due to Covid and winter ills... If we had pay parity, we could attract the staff we need.

"A lot of people also rely on our medical centre for accident and emergency treatment, so we work just as hard as hospital nurses and with the same level of care expected. Most of us have worked in hospitals as well as primary health care, and we know we work equally hard."