New faces welcomed at branch officers’ workshop

New branch officers meet in Wellington

This year’s ASMS branch officers’ workshop in July was marked by a raft of new faces, following elections earlier in the year.

Each region is represented by a President and a Vice President. They are key representatives in your workplace and are elected for three-year terms. They officially took up office on 1 July. Every year ASMS brings our branch officers together in Wellington for a day of discussions, presentations, and information-sharing to support them in their roles. Last year many branch officers had to join virtually due to Level 3 Covid-19 restrictions in Auckland. Unsurprisingly, a key focus of this year’s meeting was the lack of progress in the MECA negotiations, including briefings on the planned stopwork meetings. The Council of Trade Unions’ new economist Craig Renney brought macro-economics to life as he gave his analysis of the Government’s last Budget. Craig, who spent five years in Finance Minister Grant Robertson’s office, said Covid-19 is a mere blip that won’t have a long-term structural effect on the economy. He also pointed out that New Zealand has comparatively very low debt levels, and in his view the Government has “significant fiscal headroom for expenditure”. Other big themes of the day were burnout and wellbeing. ASMS Policy and Research head Dr Charlotte Chambers presented the findings of the recent member burnout survey, while Northland SMO Dr Lucille Wilkinson spoke about the research she has been doing on wellbeing during her sabbatical. It included looking into the need for wellbeing measurement tools for health workers and the obligation for employers to provide safe working environments.

Dr Clare French

Dr Clare French is the new Vice President of the Wairarapa branch. The general surgeon is not only new to ASMS but also to New Zealand, having arrived last March, right before lockdown. As an American she says being an SMO in a union is new and different. “We don’t unionise in this way in the States, and I was interested to see what goes on behind the scenes and wanted to be a part of it.” She found the branch officers’ workshop worthwhile. “I work in a small workplace and will go back with more details and knowledge to share. I definitely feel more confident about fielding questions from colleagues and equipped to represent the union.”

Dr thomas carter

Dr Thomas Carter is the new President for the MidCentral region. As an emergency doctor he was keen to step up some of the advocacy work he has already been doing within his DHB. “It’s another avenue to combat the problems we face front on. “I feel the public and politicians are disconnected from individual hardship. The branch officer role will let me communicate with my colleagues more often and act as a sounding board for them.”

You can find out who your branch officers are on our website www.asms.org.nz by searching “branch officers’.

Dr nigel giles

The new Vice President for Whakata -ne, Dr Nigel Giles, also put his hand up to help his fellow SMOs. “Many SMOs are feeling vulnerable, not represented and largely ignored by senior management of the DHB. The meeting was exceptional and great to know ASMS is working so hard to help us do the clinical work we love to do.”

Being union

Standing in support of midwives

We were out supporting midwives as they marched on Parliament during their recent industrial action. Midwives had rejected the latest pay offer from their DHBs but were also highlighting critical staffing shortages. It’s important for health unions to stand together and send a strong message about health workforce shortages across the board and the need to value the staff we do have.

Support for ASMS remit on user charges

An ASMS remit to the Council of Trade Unions women’s conference has been adopted unanimously and will now go to CTU delegates at their annual conference for consideration later this year. The remit stated:

That the CTU advocates that user charges for primary health services (including dental) are abolished, starting with free dental care. ASMS’ recommendation comes directly from our Health Matters publication from last year and is also part of our Creating Solutions agenda for change. We firmly believe that any aspirations towards health equity will fail while New Zealand continues to impose user charges for primary care. If the remit is passed at the full CTU conference, it will become an official CTU policy position which it will lobby Government on.