Midwives pay equity proposal at last is posted on the Beehive website – but not, yet, the good news for “pregnant people”
Hurrah. Someone in the Beehive has posted a ministerial announcement, the first since Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta last Thursday announced New Zealand will provide humanitarian support to those affected by last week’s earthquake in Morocco.
It is somewhat stale news, dated 15 September 2023. It was emailed to journalists on that date but had not been posted on the government’s official website when Point of Order went looking for the latest government news yesterday.
The press statement, posted in the name of Health Minister Ayesha Verrall, declared that a proposed pay equity settlement had been agreed by Te Whatu Ora, the Midwifery Employee Representation and Advisory Service (MERAS) and New Zealand Nurses Association (NZNO).
If the proposed settlement is accepted, the salary for a graduate midwife employed by Te Whatu Ora would increase to $76,235 while the top rate for a Core Midwife would be $100,862, and for Senior Midwives the rates would range from $106,810 to $153,060.
The proposed settlement also includes a further lump sum payment of up to $15,000.
But this is not a done deal. Around 1,700 midwives and maternity care assistants have yet to vote on the proposal.
The proposed settlement agreement follows the recent settlement of the Te Whatu Ora nursing pay equity claim.
A day earlier – on 14 September – Verrall announced funding of $12.3 million for a new primary birthing unit at Waitākere Hospital.
The development of the Waitākere Primary Birthing Unit is one of 110 health infrastructure projects worth $7.7 billion currently being planned and delivered across the country to enhance New Zealand’s hospital and health services.
Among other benefits, according to Verrall’s curious language, the new unit will free up space in the Waitākere Maternity Unit “for pregnant people who are unwell and need specialist care”.
This is another statement that was emailed to journalists last week, but unlike the midwives pay proposal it has yet to be posted on the government’s official website.
The press statement, posted in the name of Health Minister Ayesha Verrall, declared that a proposed pay equity settlement had been agreed by Te Whatu Ora, the Midwifery Employee Representation and Advisory Service (MERAS) and New Zealand Nurses Association (NZNO).
If the proposed settlement is accepted, the salary for a graduate midwife employed by Te Whatu Ora would increase to $76,235 while the top rate for a Core Midwife would be $100,862, and for Senior Midwives the rates would range from $106,810 to $153,060.
The proposed settlement also includes a further lump sum payment of up to $15,000.
But this is not a done deal. Around 1,700 midwives and maternity care assistants have yet to vote on the proposal.
The proposed settlement agreement follows the recent settlement of the Te Whatu Ora nursing pay equity claim.
A day earlier – on 14 September – Verrall announced funding of $12.3 million for a new primary birthing unit at Waitākere Hospital.
The development of the Waitākere Primary Birthing Unit is one of 110 health infrastructure projects worth $7.7 billion currently being planned and delivered across the country to enhance New Zealand’s hospital and health services.
Among other benefits, according to Verrall’s curious language, the new unit will free up space in the Waitākere Maternity Unit “for pregnant people who are unwell and need specialist care”.
This is another statement that was emailed to journalists last week, but unlike the midwives pay proposal it has yet to be posted on the government’s official website.
Latest from the Beehive
15 SEPTEMBER 2023
Around 1,700 Te Whatu Ora employed midwives and maternity care assistants will soon vote on a proposed pay equity settlement agreed by Te Whatu Ora, the Midwifery Employee Representation and Advisory Service (MERAS) and New Zealand Nurses Association (NZNO).
Point of Order is a blog focused on politics and the economy run by veteran newspaper reporters Bob Edlin and Ian Templeton
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