Telehealth workers believe current pay deal doesn't go far enough Photo: Jenny Ueberberg / Unsplash
Telehealth workers have voted to strike this weekend for the second time in less than a month over their stalled pay negotiations.
The 300 workers, employed by Healthline, GP After Hours, the Poisons Centre and other services run by Whakarongorau Aotearoa will walk off the job for 24 hours from five o'clock on Sunday evening.
A mental health response nurse and PSA delegate, Jane McQuarrie, said the current pay offer did not reflect the cost of living.
"We're seeing a lot of issues with retaining staff due to the low pay rates, work intensity and continued pressure to take on more and more work.
"Also, people are leaving in droves."
"If workers can't meet their own financial, physical, and mental health needs, how can they come to work each day ready to support the needs of our country?" McQuarrie said.
Despite mediation following the first strike last month September 16, the workers say the offer on the table is not enough to stop further industrial action.
A delegate for the Nurses Organisation, Bruce Tomlinson, said the mediation ordered by the Employment Court during Whakarongorau's attempt to interdict the first strike had made little difference.
"We entered the mediation in good faith with the hope that the employer would make a decent wage offer, and while there were some good improvements on offer for some workers, this ultimately did not materialise.
"This strike is really about the workers getting paid a fair wage. Quite frankly we're asking for a cost-of-living increase, but their new offer is not even close to that."
Since the last strike in mid-September, five people from the mental health team had resigned, he said.
"How do you expect to continue to run these services when our members are leaving for higher pay?"
Whakarongorau's admission that it did show a surplus of about $7 million in 2021/22 but failed to invest in staff retention or recruitment only highlighted the issue which led to the impasse, he continued.
"It only exposes where employees' wellbeing sits on Whakarongorau's list of priorities."
RNZ has approached Whakarongorau Aotearoa for its response.
Whakarongorau workers provide nationwide support to callers through Healthline, 1737 Need to Talk?, Ambulance Secondary Triage, National Poisons Centre, GP After Hours, Earlier Mental Health Response, Shine Domestic Abuse Helpline, Diver Emergency Service Hotline, NZ Defence Force Mental Health Line and others.