Health NZ began renegotiating its collective agreement with New Zealand Nurses Organisation in September 2024. Photo: 123RF
A nurse at Starship hospital says on call nurses are being asked to cover staff shortages as well as high priority situations.
Auckland theatre nurses - a total of 370 - will refuse to take on call shifts over the next month in protest over pay and chronic understaffing.
The strike began on May 26 and would run until June 23. Affected hospitals included Auckland City, Starship and Greenlane.
Perioperative nurse Haim Ainsworth told Morning Report Health New Zealand's latest offer of a yearly one percent rise - over two years - was "preposterous".
He said perioperative nurses would be there for loss of life or high priority cases, but they needed to pressure Health NZ to ensure the on call system was not being used to cover staff shortages.
"What is happening - in some areas of the system - is that shifts end at, say, 5pm but staff who are on call are being used to run longer lists that go beyond the cut-off time.
"So they've already worked their full shift and then they have to stay or then they're called back to finish the regular work of the day," Ainsworth said.
Health NZ began renegotiating its collective agreement with New Zealand Nurses Organisation in September 2024.
But - after little progress was made during bargaining earlier in the year - the Employment Relations Authority were called in to facilitate the process.
They found there was no reason to question the economic rationale behind the offer nor was there a rationale to support seeking further funding from the government.
Ainsworth said the authority's stance was "disappointing".
"They basically said 'look the government's got no money. You should just take the one percent and be happy'. As every New Zealander knows a one percent increase doesn't keep track with the cost of living or inflation.
"It would mean some of us - not all of us - would maybe get an extra $1000 a year," Ainsworth said.
Health New Zealand Northern Region deputy chief executive Mike Shepherd. Photo: Supplied
But Health New Zealand Northern Region deputy chief executive Mike Shepherd said the perioperative nurses were asking to be paid more than colleagues in similar roles about the country.
He said he was unsure why the perioperative nurses were taking action ahead of the current national bargaining process with the Nurses Union.
"We have a great respect for the work they do and we absolutely value that.
"If they stay late for a shift they get paid overtime. If they get called back they get paid a minimum of three hours double time so I think they are getting remunerated for returning to work for these acute cases," Shepherd said.
He said the perioperative vacancy rates were currently less than four percent and some of those roles were being held open to accommodate new graduate nurses.
"This is not an area where we have large vacancies. We obviously have day to day staffing challenges like any large business and 24 hour business does, but I think that we provide a good environment and we really value our teams," Shepherd said.
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