Anne Daniels, President
NZNO Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa

As I write NZNO Te Whatu Ora members are taking our fight for safe staffing and fair, equitable pay to the streets, in rolling strikes around the nation. We are fighting the good fight for every NZNO member, everywhere, and all those we care for.

Our actions are not taken lightly. We know that we stand in the breech to halt the tide of misinformation and political doublespeak that is demeaning to our membership. Decisions are being made behind closed doors about us, without us.

We know that our patients, families and communities are being put in harm’s way with the constant cuts, redundancies and regionalisation rationalisations being made in a context where the almighty dollar rules.

But my hope, our hope is in the people who stand beside us, walk with us, in burgeoning numbers, as we take our fight to the streets of this land, countering the sound bites that state “there are no cuts”, “there is no CCDM pause”, “there is no more funding”, and last but not least “nurses pay equity has blown Te Whatu Ora’s budget” when it is patently too low to meet the needs of our people.

Despite the chaos reigning in the political landscape, NZNO members are shining a light of truth, integrity, and solidarity on the direction we are taking.  We are not tolerating any breeches to our contracts and inherent conditions of work. We are striking and visible to the public on the streets. We are taking our fight to the courts. We are sharing our stand for the health and well-being for all through our members’ experiences in the media. We have a growing presence in the hearts and minds of the people of Aotearoa, reflecting the power engendered in our activism and solidarity.

Christmas is a time of hope and the New Year a time for realisation of those hopes. We cannot and will not fail because many depend on us to succeed. We can do this, together.