Anne Daniels, President
NZNO Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa

“Respect – find out what it means to me or you might walk in

“And find I’m gone

“I got to have a little respect.”

So sang Aretha Franklin in 1967, demanding R E S P E C T for herself as a woman. It was a rallying cry preaching an essential message that everyone’s voices deserve to be heard. And so does ours –every NZNO member and every health care worker, everywhere.

The lack of respect for us is reflected in a myriad of issues that have been piling up for decades. You all know the issues. And as I write, the Government has announced Pay Equity details before NZNO could inform its members.

We can no longer wait for respect to be given, we need to demand it – as Aretha did nearly 50 years ago – and then take it. We need to Maranga Mai! – Rise Up! We need to do what needs to be done for us now, and all those who will come after us. Pay Equity is a human right; the right to be paid fairly and without discrimination. Pay Equity is about ensuring our work is visible and valued, based on our skills, knowledge, responsibilities and experience, as well as the effort that work requires. And right now the inequitable pay and conditions do not acknowledge or compensate the effort demanded by our employers and Government. It is simply unsustainable.

The offer on the table is being debated by our members –  in break rooms, at home, on social media. Many are looking at what it means for them, which is fine. We all have to pay the bills. Others are focusing on the fact that this is a historic process that will affect us as individuals, as union members, and our nursing profession.

It will impact on those nurses who work in the Primary Health Care, Aged Care, Māori and Pasifika health care providers, and funded sectors. It will impact on the recruitment and retention of nurses, midwives, health care assistants, kaiāwhina , and students for decades to come. It will also impact on the current legislation which needs to change to become fit for purpose today and for future generations of women in this country.

The decision to accept or reject is in our members’ hands. How we decide, and what we decide, will set a precedent for how we are perceived by Government, employers’ and the public at large. The image and understanding of the role of the nurse has to change as it does not reflect who we really are.

We need to show who we are, why we are who we are, what we do and why, and where we do it. We need to make visible the invisible critical and cultural safety thinking, the knowledge of our systems and skills, our experience, and our focus on our patient, their family/whānau, and the communities they live in. We are there with the patient 24/7.

Respect – what does it look like to you? Maranga Mai! Kia kaha NZNO.

Kerri Nuku, Kaiwhakahaere
Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO

Earlier this month, I was fortunate to be nominated as one of the New Zealand delegates to attend the International Labour Organisations 111th conference held in Geneva, Switzerland. Along with Annie Newman we represented workers as part of the Council of Trade Unions.

The International Labour Organisations (ILO) role will be developing develop international labour organisation standards. The development and drafting of international standards are incredibly challenging as the chair of the drafting aims to reach a consensus agreement across the tripartite members – workers, governments and employees. Reaching agreement embedding the protection of fundamental rights to collective bargaining and freedom of association into international standards was always going to require stamina.

I represented the Asia/Western Pacific drafting of the ILO guidelines for a “Just Transition towards environmentally sustainable economies and societies for all”, the purpose was to develop policies providing consistency across four interrelated areas – namely promoting inclusiveness, sustainability, job rich economies and advancing social justice and managing the process of a Just Transition, and financially supporting Just Transition.

Just transition is a framework developed by the trade union movement to encompass a range of social interventions needed to secure workers’ rights, health and safety and livelihoods when economies are shifting to sustainable production, primarily combating climate change and protecting biodiversity and planetary heath .

While the council of trade unions and NZ Ministry of Business and Innovation have done much work in this space it would be fair to say that not all the members states have and therefore safeguarding industrial policy provisions, therefore imposes on the rights and obligations of governments and employers. This led to very hearty and at times childlike behaviours. However, and possibly more important is the role and responsibility of ILO to how ILO would be accountable to strengthen the capacities of government, employers, and worker organisations.  Both designs, implement, monitor comprehensive, gender transformative policies and strategies for a Just Transitions within countries.

While I gained a greater appreciation for the geopolitical context and the international instruments and mechanisms of the ILO, there is no disputing that whether at a regional, national, or international level workers must continue to fight to retain their fundamental rights.

The framework of a Just transition on nurses relates directly to the Five Fixes that NZNO has identified under Maranga Mai! Every nurse everywhere.

The ILO definition Greening the economy in a way that is fair and inclusive as possible to everyone concerned, creating decent work opportunities, and leaving no-one behind.

Our five fixes include:

1. Te Tiriti actualised within and across the health system
2. More nurses across the health system
3. Pay and conditions that meet nurses’ value and expectations
4. More people training to be nurses
5. More Māori and Pasifika nurses

Maranga Mai!