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Hutt Valley Nurse Karen McMahon never thought it would come to this.
With the sign in hand, McMahon, who has been a primary care nurse for 35 years, joined 32,000 general practitioner nurses and clerical staff in 500 practices in a 24-hour strike for equal pay with nurses from the District Board of Health.
She was one of dozens of nurses who marched from Midland Park to the Ministry of Health in downtown Wellington on Monday.
Primary care nurses are paid 10.6% less than those who work for district health boards, leaving them worse off by $ 7,650 a year, despite having the same skills and training. The New Zealand Nurses Organization (NZNO) set the funding gap at $ 15 million.
READ MORE:
* Invercargill nurses join the second historic strike
* Nurses and primary health care staff continue to strike over pay equity issues
* Striking nurses prepare rallies, march to the Ministry of Health over wage disputes
STENT / KEVIN THINGS
Karen McMahon (left) and Arnelise Cope of Hutt Valley strike for equal pay.
General practice nurses treat many diseases, including diabetes, smears, vaccinations, and chronic conditions. It is a job McMahon finds rewarding.
“It’s positive compared to the hospital, where it’s only about things at the end of the road,” he said.
But the salary discrepancy meant that fewer nurses wanted to work in primary care, reducing staffing levels.
That, combined with an aging population where people were sicker, was making work difficult, he said.
Members voted in favor of the strike for the first time on September 3. Monday was the first 24-hour strike, with demonstrations across the country.
STENT / KEVIN THINGS
Primary care nurses strike for pay parity across the country on Monday.
NZNO industry advisor Chris Wilson said members were frustrated and disappointed that the Health Ministry would not back down on the issue, despite two years of talks.
Nurses were leaving in “droves,” while a recent survey of members found that 70 percent of nurses wanted to quit their jobs, he said.
GPs support equal pay for their staff, but where the funding will come from is not yet clear.
Clinics charge patients a copayment, which is limited by the government. A practice is also funded by the number of patients it has on its list, not by the number of times it sees a patient, a system that has pushed practices to the limit during the coronavirus pandemic.
Wilson asked the government to take over the money, but Health Minister Andrew Little said the problem was between the nurses and their employers.
STENT / KEVIN THINGS
Primary care nurses marched to the Ministry of Health to demand equal pay.
And there was no guarantee that the extra money awarded to internships would end up in pay packages for the nurses.
“DHB and the Ministry of Health are currently working to see what wage parity would look like and how it could be achieved,” he said.
“It is not appropriate for me to intervene or comment on the negotiation process currently underway.”
Island Bay Medical Center nurse Mili Davie-Martin has worked in both hospitals and primary care and described the pay gap as “stupid.”
But with a new one-day strike scheduled for November 23, Davie-Martin did not plan to give up.
“We will continue to strike until we get it,” he said.
