Nurse Maude Strike To Go Ahead

7 September 2005

Nurse Maude Strike To Go Ahead

Around 200 registered and enrolled nurses and caregivers employed by Canterbury's Nurse Maude Association will strike for 24 hours from 7am Friday 9th September.

New Zealand Nurses Organisation spokeswoman Joy Coughlan said mediation assistance today had failed to assist the parties to reach a settlement and NZNO members were disappointed at the outcome.

"Our members hoped Nurse Maude would use the mediation to improve their offer and avert strike action, but they made no improvement on their earlier position," she said.

"We believe they have had increases in their funding, but their offer of 2.1% for the first year and 2.9% for the second does not go any way towards addressing the pay parity issues."

A registered nurse at NMA currently receives $7,000 a year less, as well as significantly less in penal payments and allowances than registered nurses employed to do the same job at Canterbury DHB.

Nurse Maude nurses will picket on Papanui Rd on Friday morning, seeking public support for their position.

"We do not believe that nurses should be disadvantaged by showing commitment to their profession by choosing to work at the Nurse Maude in preference to other employers offering higher salaries," said Joy Coughlan.

ENDS

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