Thousands of Primary Health Care nurses and workers will go on strike on Thursday as they fight to be paid the same as their hospital colleagues.
More than 500 medical centres will scale back operations, and some will be forced to close.
Natalie Hughes is a registered nurse who works on the frontline, helping with COVID testing and acute care. But she's paid 10.6 percent less than her hospital counterparts.
"We deserve to be paid the same. We have the same qualification so there's no reason why we shouldn't be paid the same," she says.
After almost a year of negotiations, they say enough is enough and they're going on strike.
"It's not ideal but I really want to be paid the same as the nurses who work at the DHB," Hughes says.
On Thursday, 3200 Primary Health Care nurses, receptionists and administrative staff across 500 general practices, accident and medical centres will stop work for eight hours.
"There certainly will be reduced services, some practices are needing to close due to the strike but we're confident that there'll be no patient safety issues as a result of that," New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) industrial advisor Chris Wilson says.
This 10.6 percent pay gap equates to around $7500 a year. The NZNO says it's not possible for the employers to bridge that gap with the funding they get from the DHBs. So, they want the Government to stump up.
But Health Minister Chris Hipkins says no deal.
"In general the Government supports pay parity, equal pay for equal work, that's a basic premise that we do support. Having said that, in primary care we are not the employer of those nurses," he says.
Primary Health Care workers hope tomorrow's strike will get them back around the negotiating table, to avoid another round of industrial action.
Nurses will be holding a series of rallies around the country at midday tomorrow.
