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Junior-doctor strikes at public hospitals are looking increasingly likely to resume, after a "provocative" pay offer to new employees and non-unionised doctors.
Monday marked one year since the expiry of the national collective agreement covering more than 2000 junior doctors.
Consequently they all automatically went on to individual agreements with the same terms and conditions, as provided by the Employment Relations Act.
District health boards have offered pay rises of 4.5 per cent for the past year and 4.5 per cent for this year.
But the DHBs said yesterday they would offer non-union and new employees pay rises of just over 8.5 per cent for one year.
Junior doctors are considered new employees when they shift between hospitals as part of their training.
The boards notified the union of this on Monday.
Union national secretary Deborah Powell said last night: "They are inviting [junior doctors] to resign to get the pay rise and abandon the MECA [multi-employer collective agreement]. It's a very provocative action on their part."
She said it increased the likelihood of a resumption of strikes. The union's national executive would meet today to consider further strikes.
Also on Monday, the Employment Relations Authority ordered health boards to give confidential details of pay settlements with other health practitioners to an independent reviewer.
The authority, in a case brought by the union, ruled the 21 district health boards had not met their statutory good faith obligations to provide the information to the union. But they had not breached good faith by electing to refer any details they were required to provide to an independent reviewer.
The authority told the boards to provide the information within 21 days to a mutually agreed independent reviewer, who could decide how it would be shared.
Dr Powell said the employers' withholding of the information meant, "we have all been left wondering what have they got to hide".
DHBs spokesman David Meates said the findings would not change their pay offer.
Dr Powell revealed the union was also considering giving up its battle for a new national pay deal and instead seeking several regional agreements.
Mr Meates said the DHBs remained committed to a single national agreement.
* Negotiations ...
Are at a stalemate after months of talks and two strikes.
The union is asking for three pay rises, each of 10 per cent, over three years.
The district health boards have offered two rises of 4.25 per cent for a two-year deal.
