November 30, 2022
Fair pay for hauora step in right direction
New Zealand Nurses Organisation is welcoming $200 million fair pay settlement for workers in aged-care facilities, hospices and Māori and Pacific healthcare organisations as a step in the right direction.
But Kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku says nurses working for the national health authority Te Whatu Ora could still end up being paid more, depending on the still-to-be-decided outcome of an Employment Court case.
She says the Nurses Organisation wants fair pay rates across the sector.
“What we say is a nurse, is a nurse – is a nurse, wherever you are working. So we would say every nurse has to get behind every single campaign – that we run – whether it’s in Te Whatu Ora or out there in Maori-iwi providers etc. Because this impacts on the profession of nursing,” Ms Nuku says.
Kerri Nuku, says there is also an ongoing dispute over $1 billion in backpay for nurses – which the government says was never part of negotiations, and it can’t afford.