New Zealand nurses prepare more strikes as healthcare crisis worsens
About 30,000 nurses, healthcare assistants and midwives in public hospitals around New Zealand voted earlier this month to hold another three nationwide strikes. The members of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) held an eight-hour strike on June 9 after rejecting a derisory pay rise offer of just 1.38 percent. The District Health Boards’ offer was effectively a pay cut relative to inflation and contained nothing to address the staffing crisis in hospitals.
The Labour Party-led government announced a wage freeze in May for the next three years for the vast majority of public sector employees, including healthcare workers and teachers. The government is imposing severe austerity measures to make workers shoulder the burden of the economic crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.
A Gripping Biography of Promise & Loss: The Rise & Fall of Patrick John dominicanewsonline.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from dominicanewsonline.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Sunday, 4 July 2021, 5:06 pm
More than a week ago, drivers employed by NZ Bus in
Wellington voted against a sellout deal hatched by the
Tramways Union and management. The offer, the third that the
drivers have rejected, would have increased hourly wages to
just two dollars above the legal minimum, while cutting
overtime and weekend rates.
During the ratification
meeting on June 23, drivers angrily denounced the union for
promoting the agreement in the media, and for seeking to
pressure workers into approving it. Union officials had
distributed a memo declaring that if drivers voted against
the rotten deal, they would face drawn-out industrial action
Press Release – Socialist Equality Group
More than a week ago, drivers employed by NZ Bus in Wellington voted against a sellout deal hatched by the Tramways Union and management. The offer, the third that the drivers have rejected, would have increased hourly wages to just two dollars above the legal minimum, while cutting overtime and weekend rates.
During the ratification meeting on June 23, drivers angrily denounced the union for promoting the agreement in the media, and for seeking to pressure workers into approving it. Union officials had distributed a memo declaring that if drivers voted against the rotten deal, they would face drawn-out industrial action with no chance of a better offer.
The Wellington bus drivers dispute and the case for rank-and-file committees
More than a week ago, drivers employed by NZ Bus in Wellington voted against a sellout deal hatched by the Tramways Union and management. The offer, the third that the drivers have rejected, would have increased hourly wages to just two dollars above the legal minimum, while cutting overtime and weekend rates.
Bus drivers picket during the April 23 lockout in Wellington [Credit: WSWS Media]
During the ratification meeting on June 23, drivers angrily denounced the union for promoting the agreement in the media, and for seeking to pressure workers into approving it. Union officials had distributed a memo declaring that if drivers voted against the rotten deal, they would face drawn-out industrial action with no chance of a better offer.