Te Whatu Ora welcomes nurses vote on collective pay offer

Te Whatu Ora welcomes the vote from nurses’ and midwives today to accept the latest collective agreement offer.

The New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) collective agreement will provide one-off payments, and further increases to nurses’ and midwives’ salaries.

“Our nurses and midwives are highly respected and valued in our health workforce and carry out a critical role caring for our whanau and communities,” said Margie Apa, Chief Executive, Te Whatu Ora.

“We know they’ve been under increasing pressure in recent years, and we want a workplace culture that values their work every day.

“This settlement is another step to help ease pressure on our nurses and midwives through further commitment to improving safe staffing, supporting the people taking on the role of coordinating shifts and working to help build the senior nursing career pathway that nurses can aspire to.

“The health, safety and the wellbeing of our staff remains a joint priority with the union, and we will continue to work collaboratively to address the challenges faced by our nurses and midwives.”

Acceptance of the offer means the 24-hour planned strike action planned on Wednesday 9 August will not go ahead. Te Whatu Ora is now in the process of reinstating some of its planned care.