Proposed immigration changes good for nursing and migrant workers - NZNO

NZNO Industrial Adviser Aged Care David Wait said the changes, proposed by Minister for Immigration Hon Iain Lees-Galloway, will help stabilise the nursing workforce in aged care, , improve wages, encourage upskilling and help ensure we can provide quality care for our seniors.

"New Zealand has the highest rate of internationally qualified nurses in the OECD at 27 percent of our nursing workforce, so these changes are really important and would have widespread implications."

"One of the intentions of this proposal is to reduce our reliance on workers from overseas and that’s great, but it will also encourage better workforce training for both the domestic and migrant workers we do employ.

"It will also put upwards pressure on wages and this is a really good thing. Aged care workers earn significantly less than their counterparts working in district health boards and have been for a number of years. Unfortunately previous immigration policies have allowed some employers to undercut rates of pay for both New Zealanders and migrant workers."

He said the proposal to review the requirement for low skilled migrant workers to have a one-year stand down period after they have worked here for three years is also welcome.

"This just makes good sense and will add stability for both migrant workers and employers. It will reduce the need for further recruiting and training and will lead to better quality care."

He said migrant workers in aged care make an incredible contribution for which we should all be grateful.

"NZNO is all for employing migrant workers where New Zealanders can’t be found, but when we do employ them, they should receive fair wages and conditions."

Hon Iain Lees-Galloway said that subject to the consultation, aged care was one of two sectors in which he wanted negotiations for industry agreements to begin. David Wait said this was also good news considering the heavy reliance upon migrant workers within aged care in New Zealand.

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