Nurses win 20% pay rise as dispute settled
17 December 2004
By ANNA CLARIDGE
Registered nurses have won a 20 per cent pay increase from district health boards after a long-running pay dispute was settled last night.
Under the deal, struck by the Nurses' Organisation (NZNO), a registered nurse on the top scale would see base pay rise from $45,000 to $54,000 by July 2006.
The deal also included increases for other NZNO members including midwives and would go to members for ratification in February.
NZNO spokeswoman Laila Harre said the increase was just reward for members hanging tough through the negotiation process.
The 20,000-member NZNO had voted to take strike action if a settlement could not be reached after talks stalled in September. Harre said the organisation would recommend that members accept the deal.
"I think the reaction of the nursing profession will be very favourable."
The new pay rates would not come in "overnight", but improvement in all areas would come gradually.
"We believe that one of the lasting impacts of this settlement will be through the agreement to convene an independently chaired safe staffing inquiry to look at staff levels and practices."
Harre believed that without the members' pressure, the Government would not have sought funds to make the deal. The NZNO had received huge public support in the battle for better pay, she said.
District health boards' spokesman Jim Green said the deal would help to address problems with staff retention.
"The deal was reached in negotiations that began in July and I'm pleased there has been agreement ... The $380m deal exceeds current DHB funding but has significant advantages for the health sector which is why the Government came to the party with additional funding."