PSA union members who work in vital administration and clerical roles at all 20 DHBs around New Zealand will be attending stop work meetings for two hours on Monday 11 February.

"Within the health sector thousands of hard-working administration and clerical workers have been repeatedly overlooked and had their pay and conditions neglected for far too long - resulting in a growing level of frustration and anger," says Kerry Davies, PSA national secretary.

"The 5500+ PSA members who work in administration roles at DHBs have had enough of the delays in settling overdue collective agreements (MECAs). They are now at the point where one of the options that will be raised at stop work meetings in February is the option of taking industrial action to ensure meaningful progress is made and to have their voices heard.

Kerry Davies: "Allied to the urgency of reaching new collective agreements as soon as possible in 2019, the PSA is also pursuing progress for the equal pay claim that DHBs received in April 2018. The equal pay claim is aimed at correcting the woeful historic underpayment of administration and clerical workers in the health system, around 90 per cent of whom are women with many being paid little more than the minimum wage."

Note to editors: Two MECAs for administration and clerical workers have already expired without new settlements being reached in the Northern and Lower North Island regions and two more - the Midlands MECA and South Island MECA - expire within the next month.

For more information on the equal pay claim see https://www.psa.org.nz/media/releases/dhb-admin-and-clerical-workers-raise-claim-for-equal-pay/ and https://www.psa.org.nz/media/news/wl-july2018-1/

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