Industrial Action Will Spread

The Minister of Health's actions guarantee that widespread, ongoing industrial action will continue to spread across the health sector, ACT Health Spokesman Heather Roy said today.

"Annette King is repeating all of the worst mistakes that Education Minister Trevor Mallard made with the secondary teachers' union.

"Mrs King is a master of doublespeak. She expresses her `sympathy' for health professionals but continues to tell District Health Boards that they have funding for pay increases of only around two per cent. With inflation running at 2.6 percent and the cost of healthcare rising on average by six percent for New Zealand consumers last year, it seems Mrs King is the only person in the country surprised that health professionals are angry.

"ACT rejects centralised wage fixing, as we have seen in the health and education sectors. ACT proposes that DHBs are given the freedom to harness the advantages of the private sector.

"Together these changes would allow health professionals to get on with their jobs," Mrs Roy said.

© Scoop Media

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