Oceania aged care workers strike to go ahead

MEDIA RELEASE: NEW ZEALAND NURSES ORGANISATION AND SERVICE AND FOOD WORKERS UNION NGA RINGA TOTA

26 February 2012
Oceania aged care workers strike to go ahead

A national strike by caregivers, nurses and service workers at New Zealand's largest rest home chain, Oceania, will go ahead on Thursday 1 March after mediation talks on Friday failed to produce a solution.
The strike, involving up to 1500 members of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) and the Service and Food Workers Union Ngā Ringa Tota (SFWU), comes after eight months of bargaining and the Oceania refusal to meet a staff claim for a 3.5% cost of living increase.

The strike will affect 20 rest homes from Dunedin to Auckland. The strike will commence at 8.30am and finish at 10.30am.

Joint union spokesperson Alastair Duncan said the strike was timed to minimise any impact on residents.

“Residents and families are supportive of the workforce but management appear deaf to their concerns,” he said.

“Oceania has chosen to ignore the people who are the backbone of its business. Every day carers go the extra mile for residents, but Oceania has turned its back on their staff.”

NZNO and SFWU said Oceania had chosen to use public money to pay off its property costs rather than invest in care.

Alastair Duncan says the dispute showed the failure of the public private partnership model when applied to the health sector.

“Profit has become the focus at the expense of care. Not only has Oceania refused to pass on public money to the care staff, it also wants to make cuts to overtime and exclude several hundred staff from the collective as a condition of settlement.”

Oceania facilities where staff are taking strike action on 1 March:
• Elmwood Village, Wesley Village, Meadowbank Village, Franklin Village, Takanini Lodge & Everil Orr, Auckland
• Wharerangi & St Johns Wood, Taupo
• Ohinemuri, Paeroa
• Tokoroa LifeCare, Tokoroa
• Atawhai, Taradale
• Rahiri, Dannevirke
• Chiswick Park & Palmerston Manor, Palmerston North
• Elderslea, Upper Hutt
• Woodlands, Motueka
• Villa Gardens & The Oaks, Christchurch
• Holmwood, Rangiora
• Red Roofs, Dunedin

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