NZNO welcomed the public announcement from the Minister of Finance saying that teachers and nurses were in line for additional funding to enable their pay rates to be addressed through “a decent pay bump”.

A big thank you to our members who have had the courage to tell their stories and experiences of the pressures of nursing in DHBs and other health sectors on social media and through our I Heart Nurses and Shout Out for Health campaigns. I also want to thank our NZNO Board, delegates and staff who have been telling the DHBs and Ministers about the ongoing pressures affecting nursing in meetings, bargaining and many other forums over the last decade.

NZNO is committed to resolving the current DHB MECA bargaining process. We have over 100 years of experience in understanding and advocating for nursing to assist us. We want to achieve a bargaining settlement that represents the kōrero of NZNO members which we can all be proud of.

Together and united we have grown our organisation to over forty nine thousand members. Each of you brings a wide range of perspectives relating to culture, values, political leanings, scope of practice and many other factors. Our membership is our strength.

Several thousand delegates and activists help us achieve our goals.  Nurses, midwives and healthcare assistants like you have shouted out for safer staffing and healthy work places, improved health funding and fairer nursing pay and conditions throughout the last century.

We have been advocating about your reality – that you are stretched to get your work done to your standard, tired at the end of your shift, leave work concerned about your patients and continue to care for them well after you leave work; and that the value and skills required to do your work has not been fully recognised.

We will continue to stand with you to deliver your aspirations.

In solidarity
Cee Payne
RGON, BA | Industrial Services Manager

Dear NZNO member

NZNO trusts and respects each of our members to reach their own decision in relation to the DHB MECA bargaining outcome. This is paramount as a democratic union and professional organisation.

The outcome of the vote is in your hands. Our strength is in standing together united as members and staff to implement whatever decision is reached as a result of the second round of DHB MECA ratification meetings.

We understand the issues – unsafe staffing, high patient acuity, the undervaluation of nurses work.  inadequate levels of health funding  over the last nine years. This has had a huge impact on you as an NZNO member. Our NZNO staff have continued to remind us of these issues that continue in your DHB workplaces that are contributing to stress and fatigue.

We want to assure you that NZNO is listening to the aspirations you have for your employment and profession.

That’s why NZNO progressed our “Shout Out for Health” campaign throughout 2017 to engage with the public and politicians to address health funding and lift the tight fiscal parameters they have been enforced in the health sector. It is also why we ran our “I Heart Nurses” campaign over Christmas to build public support for nursing and the work you do.

When we are in bargaining NZNO staff are required to conduct ourselves in line with the code of good faith for the public health sector which is outlined in Schedule 1B of the Employment Relations Act 2000. As an essential service the code sets out our mutual obligations during collective bargaining including not deliberately attempting to provoke a breakdown in bargaining.

We will continue to stand with you – you can depend on the full force of NZNO to champion your decision. There is power in our collective voice.

In unity.

Cee Payne

NZNO Industrial Services Manager

International Women’s Day BLOG 2018

NZNO spokesperson on Domestic Violence, Carol Beaumont

On International Women’s Day 2018 the NZ Nurses Organisation affirms its commitment to working to remove barriers to full equality for women.

We particularly seek to tackle the issue of gender based violence – at work, at home and in the community. Our members see the impact of gender based violence in their roles as health professionals and too many also experience violence themselves. Inter personal violence is a significant problem in our country and in particular, violence against women remains underreported. It brings devastating consequences for victims, their families and the wider community.

Globally unions are committed to addressing issues of workplace violence. Our international nursing bodies – the International Council of Nurses (ICN) and Global Nurses United are focused on reducing the workplace violence faced by nurses. This is an issue that is a terrible reality faced by many of our members, the majority of nurses are women.

We are also strongly committed to the campaign of the International Trade Union Confederation campaign to Stop Gender Based Violence at Work.

All of these campaigns are timely, with the global outpouring of concern about issues of violence and harassment faced by women workers across all sectors and industries. #MeToo has become a worldwide phenomenon. News presenter Alison Mau is spearheading the movement here with #metoonz.

The reality is that over a third of women – 818 million women globally – over the age of 15 have experienced sexual or physical violence at home, in their communities or in the workplace (Source: The World Health Organisation).

In June this year the International Labour Organisation (ILO) will take a huge step towards outlawing gender based violence by discussing an international labour standard on ‘violence and harassment against women and men in the world of work’. The ITUC campaign has two components – to build critical support for the adoption of an ILO Convention on this issue and strengthen union action in helping to eradicate gender based violence from the world of work.

NZNO is committed to working on both of these components. We will be urging the Government and business leaders to show their support for such an international labour standard. More broadly we have a comprehensive plan which includes negotiating with employers on working to eliminate violence in the workplace and to support workers who are victims of domestic violence; supporting legislative initiatives including Jan Logie’s Domestic Violence – Victims Support Bill and; using every opportunity to raise awareness of the impact of violence in the first instance and; developing the role of workplace leaders to advocate for change in their workplaces and to support victims.

Yours

Carol Beaumont