Strike organiser Lyn Williams, left, and Royston nurse Stephanie Meek, right, on strike outside Royston Hospital in Hastings on Thursday, asking for better pay. Photo / Paul Taylor
Strike organiser Lyn Williams, left, and Royston nurse Stephanie Meek, right, on strike outside Royston Hospital in Hastings on Thursday, asking for better pay. Photo / Paul Taylor
Royston nurses have engaged in a strike for better wages following a breakdown in negotiations.
Nurses at three private hospitals, owned by Evolution Healthcare Ltd in Wellington and Hawke's Bay, officially began a 24-hour strike at 7am on Thursday morning.
A release from New Zealand Nurses Organisation Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa (NZNO) said more than 230 of their members from across Wakefield Hospital and Bowen Hospital in Wellington and Royston Hospital in Hawke's Bay were participating.
The nurses have been negotiating for over 15 months with Evolution Healthcare for wage increases to create pay parity with nurses who work for Te Whatu Ora.
Mediation via the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment failed on Wednesday.
Stephanie Meek, NZNO delegate and a registered nurse at Royston, said the parties had gone to mediation twice, but there had been no budging by either side on their terms for the last three months and the nurses decided to strike after a ballot.
NZNO demands include wages back paid at the rate of inflation (7.3 per cent), wages for 2022 onwards at Te Whatu Ora Pay Equity rates and the same public holiday and sick leave entitlements as Te Whatu Ora employees.
"We haven't had a pay rise in about four years now. Our contract expired 18 months ago, so there has been no pay increase at all and now all nursing staff are working through with the 7.2 per cent inflation and rise in cost of living and that is really tough for us," Meek said.
"The fact that we have not had budging or anything is really disappointing and we are beginning to feel a bit undervalued."
Nurses at three private hospitals, owned by Evolution Healthcare Ltd in Wellington and Hawke's Bay, have negotiated for over 15 months for better pay. Photo / Paul Taylor
Evolution Healthcare acting chief executive officer Matthew Clarke said Evolution offered median pay rises of 15 per cent plus a range of other benefits on top of that.
"We have been working hard to be one of the first employers to meet our nurses' pay equity expectations and have included a guaranteed top-up if the public sector settles at a higher rate during the term of this agreement," Clarke said.
"Our offer is in keeping with others accepted by the NZNO in other private facilities and Evolution is committed to working with the union and our staff to ensure we can do the same at Bowen, Wakefield and Royston Hospitals."
He said they did everything they could to prevent a strike, but in preparation for it they rescheduled about 80 elective procedures across the three hospitals involved.
"With the significant wait lists for elective surgeries across the country, we are doing all we can to minimise the disruption to our patients and their booked surgeries," he said.
The demonstration took place from 11am-3.30pm outside Royston hospital.
