Nurse explains why she is striking today
As a nurse preparing for today’s national ‘‘mega-strike’’, I feel compelled to speak out about recent government claims about our pay.
Judith Collins has stated that new nurses would receive an 11% pay rise by next year (source). This is deliberately misleading.
The reality is that my collective agreement expired in October 2024, with no backpay offered. The latest proposal over a 27-month term offered 2% in 2025 and 1% in 2026 - roughly 1% per year when considering the three years the contract would span. The rest of the so-called ‘‘11%’’ comes from step progression (the standard annual increases nurses get as they gain experience).
That’s not new money, and it’s not part of the offer. Portraying step progression as a government pay rise is unfair - a political tactic by the government to portray nurses as greedy and obsessed with money.
Meanwhile, the real issues remain ignored: critical understaffing, unsafe workloads, burnout, and patient harm. Perhaps by focusing on money and greedy nurses, the government can distract the public from the failures of a health system that’s collapsing around us.
I do my work out of care and compassion for my patients. But goodwill does not staff wards, keep patients safe, or pay the bills. I am striking because I care - about my patients, my profession, and the future of nursing in Aotearoa.
Katie Graves, RN
Christchurch
Strikes galling
It is galling to read about highly paid public servants taking industrial action over measures to address the failures of their own pedagogical governance and equally galling to have the Educational Institute say its members’ boycott of a curriculum roadshow for primary school principals does not count as formal industrial action. Industrial action it is - and if not formal, it is the action of state servants gone rogue.
An overhaul of core educational competencies is long overdue - why? Literacy and numeracy has fallen significantly over the past eight years. These are the two core competencies that young learners need. Secondary schools that drop this ball are failing these learners and account poorly for the state’s resources.
The world has moved on from The Little Yellow Digger and class sets of the western novel Shane.
Ultimately, the true rot in our education system is Tomorrow’s Schools. The chair of the Tomorrow’s Schools Review Taskforce, which reviewed the entire school system for the government two years ago, Bali Haque, said the problem was the inevitable result of a failing system.
He was backed by other experts who said teachers could not reverse declining achievement without big changes to the way schools are run.
Instead of subverting the aspirations of this government’s long overdue education reforms by boycotting the Curriculum Roadshow, the principals of interest should turn their minds to collaborating in what will become an increasingly changed education environment.
Graham Reinheimer
Dunedin
[Abridged - length.]
Not 60%
Ivan McPhail's letter (21.10.25) is correct that if ‘‘60% of voters selected Mr Simms as first choice then he should be the winner’’. He would have been as would anyone who received over 50% of the votes. But he received 26.79%.
Geoff Simons
Roslyn
Protocols and behaviour
Sandy Graham to instruct Cr Benedict Ong on protocols and behaviour for a safe and congenial working environment? (ODT 18.10.25) With her history? Forsooth.
Margot Childerstone
Hampden
I wish that his eye may be opened by experience
The recent brouhaha surrounding the local body elections in Central Otago have raised some interesting and concerning issues that don't seem to be covered by the electoral legislation.
It seems that there is a perplexing lack of consistency in how councils can act.
In the last election, and in many of preceding elections, candidates have stood for a position as a councillor and a member of a community board.
If the candidate is elected to the council, then their successful election to the community board is ‘‘withdrawn’’ by the council and the next highest polling candidate is deemed to be elected to the board.
But if a candidate decides before being sworn in after being elected to withdraw, then an expensive by-election must be held.
In this last election for the CODC a candidate who decided that they would not be able to serve if elected informed the electorate not to vote for him and was duly not elected meaning that another person was elected.
In the situation where an elected candidate decided to immediately resign before being sworn in it seems that even death of the candidate cannot avoid a by-election.
That is silly and makes no sense when councils can decide to ‘‘withdraw’’ a successful candidate.
It enforces the view of Mr Bumble in Dickens’ Oliver Twist that ‘‘the law is an ass’’.
Let us hope that the Minister of Local Government takes notice.
Russell Garbutt
Clyde
[Russell Garbutt is a former deputy chairman of the Vincent Community Board.]
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