Senior Doctors To Strike For 48 Hours In September

Senior doctors and dentists working for Health New Zealand have voted to strike for 48 hours over stalled pay talks with their employer.

The strike will see the complete withdrawal of labour of Association of Salaried Medical Specialists members from 12:01am on 23 September 2025 until 11:59pm on 24 September 2025.

ASMS members will maintain life preserving services during the strike. These plans will be negotiated over the next five days.

A total of 85% of members who cast a vote were in favour of the two-day strike.

The strike ballot was issued after members almost unanimously rejected Health New Zealand’s latest pay offer, which would have seen a real pay cut for most members. For 90% of senior doctors and dentists covered by our collective agreement, this offer would have represented an annualised pay increase of just 1.16% per year.

Escalating strike action is a last resort, but Health New Zealand must make ASMS members an offer that ensures that specialist salary rates remain competitive and allows Health New Zealand to recruit the medical workforce Aotearoa needs.

The ASMS is ready to resume pay talks and is expecting to meet with the employer before the strike.

ASMS encourages Health New Zealand to return to bargaining with a better offer.

Full details of the ballot results are here: https://asms.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/ASMS-2025-September-Strike-Ballot-Final-Result.pdf

Details of Health New Zealand’s last pay offer is here https://asms.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Health-NZ-Offer-ASMS-31-July-2025-Web.pdf, and ASMS’ analysis of it is here: https://asms.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/ASMS-Analysis-Health-New-Zealand-Offer-to-Settle.pdf

© Scoop Media