Prison Nurses And Health Care Assistants To Strike On 23 October

Frustration over the Department of Corrections’ refusal to address safety issues and other concerns raised in bargaining has led to prison nurses and health care assistants voting to take strike action, Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO says.

About 400 NZNO nurses and health care assistants working for Corrections will strike for 16 hours from 6am to 10pm on Thursday 23 October.

NZNO Corrections spokesperson Michael Pye says the two parties have been in bargaining for several months.

"Nurses and health care assistants are frustrated Corrections have refused to address their safety concerns about the the overly arduous on-call system.

"Corrections need to ensure the prison health workers are safe when they come to work by ensuring enough staff are rostered on shift as there is an increased prison population and an increasingly difficult working environment for prison health workers.

"These essential workers also need an improved pay offer that is not a pay cut and reflects the cost-of-living crisis.

"Members have voted to strike to send the message to Corrections they need to show they value the work undertaken by these critical health workers," Michael Pye says.

"Corrections’ NZNO nurses and health care assistants will stand proudly alongside other workers including Te Whatu Ora nurses, primary school teachers, allied health and mental health workers on 23 October to tell the Government they must properly fund our most essential public services," he says.

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