Te Whatu Ora reiterates commitment to resolving pay negotiation dispute
Thousands of senior doctors and dentists on Thursday walked out of their jobs despite calls from Te Whatu Ora to call off further strike action as they seek facilitation from the Employment Relations Authority (ERA).
Radio New Zealand reported that members of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS) pushed through with their third day of strike action on Thursday after pay talks reached an impasse early this week.
The ASMS said the increase on offer of $15,000 to $26,000 offered by Te Whatu Ora failed to keep up with inflation, despite the agency saying it put a fair deal on the table.
The association is also calling out the government's lack of plans for increasing recruitment despite the country in short of over a thousand doctors across the board.
"People want something to change and those that are responsible for that change don't appear to have done anything more than simply say 'oh, we value you,'" ASMS president Julian Vyas told RNZ.
"But in reality, they treat professionals in ways that I think is disrespectful and insulting."
ERA facilitation sought
The walk out pushed through despite calls from Te Whatu Ora the day before to lift the notice of further strike action while they seek facilitation.
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa said they made an application to the ERA for facilitated bargaining after the negotiations reached an impasse on Tuesday.
The health agency asked the ASMS to join them in making an application to the ERA, but the union did not confirm a joint approach.
"We are disappointed that ASMS did not join us in this initiative but remain committed to doing all we can to resolve this dispute," Apa said in a media release. "We continue to urge the union executive to formally present the current offer to their membership."
The ERA has the capacity to facilitate collective bargaining between parties in case they run into "serious difficulties."
While facilitation is carried out in private, the bargaining continues, and employers and employees are not prevented from using strikes and lockouts.