Nurses and midwives offered pay rises up to 30pc

Laila Harre

Nurses and midwives have been offered pay rises of 20 to 30 per cent in what district health boards say may be one of the public sector's biggest pay settlements.

The deal would mean registered nurses on the top scale would see their base pay rise from $45,000 to $54,000 by July 2006. New graduates would be paid $40,000.

Boards' spokesman Jim Green said last night the proposed deal would cost $380 million and exceeded the 21 boards' present funding.

Nurses Organisation negotiators have accepted the offer, which will run for 2 1/2 years and be backdated to July. They will seek ratification from the union's 20,000 nurse, midwife and health care assistant members.

It would be the first national pay deal for them since 1991.

In September they rejected a $329 million offer from the 21 health boards that would have given members rises of 6.1 per cent to 27 per cent over three years.

Members told union leaders to obtain a better offer or give notice of industrial action.

The union said at the time the offer was about "three-quarters of the way to what might be an acceptable settlement".

Mr Green, chief executive of the Tairawhiti board in Gisborne, said the latest offer had significant advantages for the health sector, "which is why the Government came to the party with additional funding".

"This is a significant package that meets the goals of DHBs and the union by targeting those with the greatest skills and experience and provides for consistent terms and conditions around the country.

"It's the DHBs' response to the nurses' claim for fair pay and gives nurses and midwives a large and well deserved pay jolt in a very short space of time."

The offer is being recommended to nurses by the Nurses Organisation and has brought together 15 collective contracts involving 20,000 members.

Speaking on National Radio this morning, NZNO spokeswoman Laila Harre said the settlement was not yet a done deal, but if accepted, would be applied throughout the new year.

Ms Harre said negotiations had come a long way since district health boards had put a "take it or leave it" offer on the table in August.

"We understood at that point they had put all the money on the table that was available. We went back to our members with that position, who weren't satisfied and told us to go back for more."

Ms Harre said it was the nurses' determination to take action that led to more money being offered from the government.

By July 2006, all the pay scales claimed for registered nurses, enrolled nurses, health care assistants, midwives and senior nurses could be in place, she said.

In a statement released today, NZNO negotiating team spokeswoman Chris Wilson said it would be the first national agreement for the sector in 14 years.

"This agreement will be a watershed," she said.

However, there were outstanding contract issues that still needed resolving.

Ms Harre said government-subsidised superannuation schemes and nurse to patient ratios were still issues to be resolved.

The NZNO was satisfied with progress to date, but in regard to staffing levels, an independently-chaired enquiry would be set up with NZNO and district health board representation to assess the situation.

"The DHBs and NZNO have agreed that if the enquiry's recommendations require additional government funding over and above the settlement, that there will be a joint approach by us to seek that funding," Ms Harre said.

The NZNO would put a lot of energy into that issue over the next 18 months.

"We know that other than pay, work-load is the other primary reason that nurses give for leaving the profession."

Ms Harre said in the lead up to pay negotiations, a lot of research had gone into assessing pay and conditions of other government funded workforces.

"Most of the job, we believe, has been done certainly in comparison with state sector professionals,"

There could still be issues to address regarding pay parity between the public and private sector, she said.