NZ workplace relations updates for July 2024
Read on for a summary of ER events.
To view the full article click on the title
1 July
More than 500 Train drivers in Auckland to have ended their month-long strike, following an offer of 6.1% pay increase over 18 months, and time-and-a-half pay for all weekend work. Train services had been disrupted since early June, causing significant inconvenience to commuters.
Fred A – A 6.1% wage deal over 18 months with backdating is a good result for the union. In the current climate anything much above 3.5% pa should be viewed as generous.
9 July
About 150 nurses at Access Home Health will strike on Monday. The nurses are asking for a cots-of-living increase.
18 July
The Employment Relations Authority ruled that the Ministry of Education mishandled major job cuts, stating that the ministry should have collaborated more closely with the Public Service Association and considered the impact on each employee individually. The ministry also lacked the authority to make union members redundant without their agreement.
19 July
150 people are striking at Ardiva’s village aged care facility due to the proposed cut of over 400 hours a week.
Fred A – when the aged care residents, their families and the local community join the protest picket then something is seriously wrong. NZNO and Etu and their members are driving this.
22 July
The ambulance workers’ union is accusing Hato Hone St John and government ministers of being misleading about staffing levels, according to First Union’s Faye McCann in an interview with Charlotte Cook.
Fred A – same accusations have been going around for the last 5 CA’s. Underfunding from central government and stressed and overworked employees. The high cost of living in NZ is contributing to the problem.
30 July
Concern for staffing issues as Thames Hospital deals with a shortage of nurses.
26 nurses picketed outside of the hospital on Tuesday to voice their concerns and frustration over the understaffing and increased workloads.
Nurses are overworked, stretched out across too many patients, regularly called in on days off and often could not take breaks. Calculations under the Care Capacity Deman management programmed shows Thames ED needed an extra 21 fulltime nurses.
FA – Nurses protest picket due to chronic staff shortage. Is the health sector falling apart in NZ, due to continuing underfunding by central government.
31 July
“GNS Science is proposing to axe dozens of jobs – the latest in a rolling series of shake-ups that have rocked the public and science sectors”.
GNS Science, a Crown Research Institute, is proposing to cut 103 positions as part of cost-cutting measures, affecting 77 staff members. The union also highlighted similar job cuts at other science institutions, warning that New Zealand risks losing top scientists to other countries.
Disclaimer: Fred A’s comments are solely his personal opinion and should not be viewed as factual or as an authoritative commentary in regard to any published article, individual and organisation.
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