Pay parity with nurses is goal of 'committed' radiographers

Radiographer Emma Bishop says she is as well qualified as a registered nurse, so she should be paid about the same.

"We do a three-year degree and nurses do as well. That's why we are going for pay parity."

The complexity, skill levels and stress of their jobs are similar too, she says.

Aged 25, a fourth-year radiographer at Middlemore Hospital and a union delegate, Miss Bishop earns a base salary of about $45,000 a year, plus extra for overtime, shift work and call-backs.

It is more than the $40,000 average wage, but Miss Bishop says, "it's not the easiest wage to live on".

After one more year on the automatic grading scale, she will reach the top step, $46,900.

Registered nurses at district health boards will by next July be paid a $54,000 base rate at the top of their five-year scale.

Radiographers at the Counties Manukau board plan to strike for five hours, possibly longer, in pursuit of pay rises for all grades, including to nearly $50,000 on the top step. Initially they were seeking $54,000.

Miss Bishop is paying off a $25,000 student loan and she and her partner, a builder, have just bought their first home, in Mt Wellington, borrowing 90 per cent of the house's price.

She describes themselves as struggling first-home owners.

"All our bills are paid, but there's not huge amounts left at the end of the month. We haven't got the financial ability to go out and spend willy nilly."

Her work, she says, is highly stressful, because of the shift work, the night-time call-outs, covering for staff shortages and the weekend drunks.

She is doing less after-hours work at present, but in some work areas it is constant.

"In CT [scanning] you are called back two to three times a night on a regular basis after an eight-hour shift.

"That makes it hard to make plans with friends, especially other radiographers. A lot of people don't understand when you are really tired because of being up all night.

"If you're doing three or four nights on call in a row you progressively get more tired because there's not much of a gap."

The strike is designed to maximise disruption for the health board, and minimise it for patients, says Miss Bishop. Staff are committed to their demands, she says.