[ad_1]
JOSEPH JOHNSON / COSAS
There have been more resignations from the New Zealand Nurses Organization.
Three board members of the nurses union resigned, after former President Grant Brookes, who resigned last week.
In a statement posted on social media, which was signed by New Zealand Nurses Organization board members Anne Daniels, Sela Ikavuka and Katrina Hopkinson, the three members announced their resignation from the board.
Daniels, who shared the statement online, confirmed to Things The statement really represented the views of the signatories:
“Sorry, all I can say is yes, we have resigned,” Daniels said. She did not want to comment further.
Hopkinson also confirmed that the statement was correct.
READ MORE:
* President of the New Zealand Nurses Organization resigns
* Union Board seeks to expel President after investigation
* Nurses union members fractured after pay deal
The resignations are likely to cause further union unrest at a critical time for nurses as part of the frontline response to the Covid-19 pandemic and before continuing to negotiate with district health boards about pay.
SUPPLIED
The resignations come after Grant Brookes, the former president, stepped down from the union last week.
Kerri Nuku, NZNO’s kaiwhakahaere, confirmed to Things she had received the resignation from Daniels, Ikavuka and Hopkinson. She said the trio had gone to social media before the union could inform its members.
The online statement says the trio felt they had no choice but to resign.
“The values in which we campaigned: transparency, unity and action, and our personal and professional values were constantly compromised.
“Staying would be tolerant behavior that we know doesn’t meet member standards. We believe NZNO and the board should be a safe place to be.”
“However, from the beginning, we were required to sign a confidentiality agreement before our first meeting. We now understand that this was a relatively new requirement for the board.”
SUPPLIED
Kerri Nuku, kaiwhakahaere, confirmed that the board had received the trio’s resignations.
The unresolved issues had hampered the trio’s ability to focus on union members, according to the statement.
“With the recent resignation of both the president [Brookes] and the vice president urges all members to ask questions and demand answers. This is, after all, our union. “
Brookes declined to comment on the trio’s resignations. The trio’s resignations come a week after Brookes left office as president, after he alleged deep divisions within the union and claimed that the “shadow forces” “pursued their own immediate interests, over and above the interests of our organization”.
Former union vice president Cheryl Hanham also recently resigned.
Rereate
The New Zealand Nurses Organization has accepted a deal that will generate the largest pay increase they have received in a decade, as well as an additional 500 nurses in hospitals.
The resignation of Daniels, Ikavuka and Hopkinson has meant that the union’s board of directors has five vacant seats: three board members, the president and the vice president.
Nuku said the remaining six members of the NZNO board, including herself, met Wednesday night to discuss the trio’s resignations. Another statement would follow the meeting, he said.
The rest of the board was in shock after the resignations, he said.
He said that since the news of Brookes’ resignation, the police had also been involved with various threats made against his own life on social media and by phone.
“This is not how nurses behave. This is not normal … it has gotten out of hand. The level of hatred [has caused] significant disturbances. “
A police spokeswoman was unable to confirm whether the police were investigating a specific individual and said that anyone who has filed a complaint with the police had a right to privacy.
