Health New Zealand is deeply concerned at the latest announcement of strike action by the New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO).

Continued strike action by NZNO members is impacting patients and delaying the surgeries and treatment many have already been waiting for too long.

The planned strike, should it go ahead, would see the postponement of an estimated 2,251 planned procedures, 3,600 first specialist appointments and 8,000 follow-up appointments.

Strikes delay care and treatment for patients not just for the hours of the strike but for the days leading up to and after a strike.

In the days leading to a strike, we carry out fewer procedures and try and reduce the number of patients in our hospitals needing care.  After a strike it takes time to catch up on demand and return our services to normal.

We are committed to reaching a settlement with the NZNO however the outstanding issues need to be resolved through further bargaining, not more strike action.

We are concerned that further strike activity has been announced by NZNO without agreeing the next steps for resolving the collective negotiations.

The NZNO has announced two strikes for 16-hours from 7am – 11pm on Tuesday 2 September and Thursday 4 September.

We value our nursing workforce, and we want to reassure them and the public that Health NZ is completely committed to patient and staff safety.

For us safe staffing in a busy hospital environment includes the skill mix of the staff, the way care is provided, strong clinical judgement, flexibility and thoughtful decision making from our experienced leaders on the frontline.

We recognise improvements can be made to the current safe staffing approach and we are exploring how that can be progressed. We have spoken to the union about safe staffing but are yet to receive a coherent response.

We have more nurses working for Health NZ than ever before and we are continuing to actively recruit to fill vacant nurses’ positions across the country.

Over the past two years our nursing FTE has increased by over 3,000 and turnover has dropped from 13.3% to 8.1% and our vacancy rate is 3.6%.

We believe the offer we have made to the union is a fair one and better than many other offers being made in the public sector.

The offer rejected by the union would see a new graduate nurse on $75,773 gain a total pay increase of $8337 (or 11%) by the end of June 2026 once step progression is included. A registered nurse on the highest step with a base salary of $106,739 would see their pay increase by $3224 to $109,963 by the end of June 2026.

The average salary for both senior and registered nurses, including overtime, PDRP allowance, and penal rates, is $125,662.

We encourage NZNO to put patients first by cancelling the strike action and returning to the bargaining table.