We have almost completed our mid-term-negotiations and updating the collective agreement to remove ‘DHBs’ and transition the language and interpretation to be reflective of the new one employer model. There is not much substantial change to the collective, but we believe we have negotiated to ensure that RMOs are protected through the transition. In particular around the interpretation of ‘Districts’ and ensuring that RMOs cannot be asked at a whim to move from one hospital to another without proper process which was a possibility now that everyone is employed by Te Whatu Ora.
We are still working through the final terms of settlement, and due to the shutdowns over the holiday season, our aim is to have this finalised in January. Because it does include changes to the wording of some parts of the collective agreement, while not substantive, our preference is still to put this out to members to ‘vote’, so we will provide a further update on this in the New Year.
You may have also read in our November Blog, that the PSPA (Public Sector Pay Increase), which the CTU (Council of Trade Unions) has been negotiating when back to cabinet for further review. This has been signed off by cabinet, but we are now waiting for the Public Service Commission to provide advice about how this might be applied in Health. Because of this, our discussions have been delayed and we will now have to wait until the New Year for clarification. When we get back to the table, we’ll let you know, and if there is an offer that we believe should be considered, we will put it to members for voting.