NZ Blood Service Statement

NZ Blood Service Statement

We have been made aware of a false statement being made by the Medical Laboratory Workers Union (MLWU) in the NZ media regarding the remuneration of the New Zealand Blood Service (NZBS) Chief Executive Mrs Fiona Ritsma.

The statement by the union is completely untrue.

The facts are:

1. There has been no change to the CEO’s basic pay since October 2008.

2. The 2010 reporting of remuneration in the Annual Report was aligned to the State Services Commission reporting requirements. This change in reporting is actually noted in the NZBS Annual Report.

3. On the now reported basis the CEO’s pay band is $310,000-$319,999 for both Financial Years ended 2009 and 2010.

Mrs Ritsma has not received any pay increase for the past two years.

NZBS has been subject to escalating industrial action by the MLWU over the past several months.

Earlier this week NZBS took a decision to suspend MLWU staff at some of its laboratories in Auckland, Waikato and Palmerston North. This was necessary to maintain a safe and reliable service for hospital patients and was unavoidable due to the escalating withdrawal of labour by the MLWU which placed undue stress on other workers.

Our services are fully operational and donors are asked to continue to attend as usual.

We will continue to negotiate in good faith and trust that this situation will be resolved in due course.

ENDS

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