First day of bargaining action for Te Whatu Ora nurses

New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki O Aotearoa members will gather in support of their bargaining team on tomorrow morning to mark the first day of collective contract negotiations with Te Whatu Ora.

Wednesday 25 September will be the first day of bargaining for NZNO’s biggest collective contract.

"This year’s bargaining is taking place at a time when our health system is om crisis," NZNO delegate Bruce McIntosh says.

"There is a chronic shortage of thousands of nurses at Te Whatu Ora nurses which is leading to increased wait times in Emergency Departments and compromising the quality of patient care," Bruce McIntosh says.

"Understaffing in our hospitals has been exacerbated with the Government’s obsession with cutting costs.

"With a commissioner appointed to Te Whatu Ora and a voluntary redundancy process underway, there’s no doubt our bargaining team has their work cut out for them.

"Members are gathering on Wednesday morning in solidarity with the bargaining team and to wish them all the best as they arrive for this important mahi. They will take with them into the negotiation room the collective strength of 35,000 members covered by this agreement," Bruce McIntosh says.