Nurses adjourn mediation

Nurses and the country's 21 district health boards have adjourned mediation talks over a national pay claim.

The New Zealand Nurses Organisation said mediation talks had taken place yesterday, but had been adjourned and would resume on October 1.

The union says the current offer from the health boards, rejected this month, would leave two-thirds of nurses behind a pay deal struck by primary school teachers last week.

The base pay for a registered nurse ranges from $31,000 to $45,000. Under the boards' offer, it would increase to between $40,000 and $53,000, starting in 2006.

The union is pushing for a scale between $40,000 and $54,000, starting next year.

- NZPA