YOUR UNION
public sector wage freeze a bolt out of the blue The Government’s announcement of a wage freeze for public sector workers earning more than $60,000 came as a bolt out of the blue for MERAS negotiators. When we received the DHBs offer the following day, we expected to be told there would be no pay rise for the next three years. Instead, the offer did include flat rate increases up to Grade 4 of the senior midwives’ pay scale in both 2021 and 2022. JILL OVENS MERAS CO-LEADER (INDUSTRIAL)
The DHBs’ position to date has been absolutely no movement for senior midwives on Grade 5 and above, in line with the Government ban across the entire public sector on any pay rises for those earning above $100,000. The latest extension of the wage freeze allows for pay increases to address staffing shortages, such as those experienced by DHBs with issues recruiting and retaining midwives, but only for those earning between $60,000 and $100,000. The Government has been arguing that there has been a blow-out in expenditure due to the Covid wage subsidy and other measures, and that any investment in public sector wages needs to go to the lowest paid.
The latest extension of the wage freeze allows for pay increases to address staffing shortages, such as those experienced by DHBs with issues recruiting and retaining midwives.
12 | AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND MIDWIFE
MERAS had earlier told the DHBs we would accept flat rate increases as opposed to percentage increases, as these put comparatively more money in the hands of those starting out in their midwifery careers with DHBs. In the last round of negotiations, we successfully argued for new midwifery graduates to start on Step 2 of the pay scale. This lifted their pay from an annual salary of $49,449 before the last MECA increases to $59,222 from August 2020. As of date of writing, the MERAS negotiating team was considering the offer and responding to the DHBs about areas where there has not been agreement. Despite the fact that the MERAS negotiations occurred before the wage freeze was extended, MERAS remains concerned about the impact of the Government’s position on public sector bargaining and wages. Lowering the wage freeze to those earning between $60,000 and $100,000 impacts on professions such as teaching, nursing, and midwifery, all of which require a university degree and therefore a personal investment that includes substantial student debt. It will likely increase the gender pay gap, as the public sector is a significant employer
of professions in this wage range that are predominantly performed by women. According to the Employment Relations Act, all collective bargaining is supposed to be conducted in “good faith”, implying that both parties are open to each other’s claims. However, my experience in public sector negotiations, in both the health and education sectors over 26 years, is that their advocates will not go outside the expectations set by Government. The DHBs have to submit any outcomes from negotiations through CEs and the Ministry, who can veto anything agreed at the table. In the last round, both NZNO and MERAS members had to take industrial action to force the DHBs to go beyond Government expectations. MERAS has been held up by such processes for months. We initiated bargaining in December with the intention of settling before expiry on 31 January, but between December and March, the DHBs’ advocates have rescheduled meetings twice, and revoked “offers” made in January. Since then, MERAS was told an offer had gone to a DHBs’ Workforce Management Group, and then to the Ministry for approval. We hope to settle by the end of May, and if so, members will then vote to ratify the proposed changes to the MECA, including pay rates and conditions. DISPUTE OVER DHBS' PAY EQUITY PROCESS HEADS TO MEDIATION Mediation to resolve a dispute with the DHBs and Ministry over including employed general practitioners as a potential male comparator in the midwifery pay equity claim has been set down for Tuesday, 1 June. The DHBs and MERAS were referred to mediation by the Employment Relations Authority after MERAS filed a dispute with the Authority on International Working Women’s Day, 8 March. Ironically the mediation date was agreed on International Midwives Day, 5 May. MERAS has been arguing for inclusion of employed GPs as a male comparator since we started our pay equity process in 2018. In February 2019, this was approved by the bipartite oversight group comprising MERAS, NZNO, PSA and DHB representatives for both the nurses' and the midwives' pay equity claims.
