Nurses set to strike again in September

Nurses on strike on Auckland's North Shore last month. Photo: RNZ
Nurses on strike on Auckland's North Shore last month. Photo: RNZ
Nurses are set to strike again across New Zealand - this time for two days.

The union, the Nurses Organisation, says its 36,000 workers have voted to walk off the job for 48 hours from September 2.

The union said Health NZ had failed to address its concerns about understaffing and the government was choosing cost-cutting over patients' needs.

Nurses are negotiating their latest contract with Health NZ and have not been able to resolve their differences since their last strike about two weeks ago.

Two weeks ago, nurses walked off the job for 24 hours over what they say is Health NZ's refusal to commit to safe staffing levels in their collective agreement.

As a result of the strike, Health NZ said an estimated 4300 planned procedures and specialist appointments had to be deferred.