CTU treats NZNO members as 'second class'.

I NOTED with anger that NZNO has failed to take the Council of Trade Unions (CTU) to task for not arguing our case for inclusion in the new government super scheme for government employees. Instead we are fobbed off as second class CTU members once again. "We don't want to fight for your rights now as it might disadvantage our already advantaged police and teachers," is the CTU's excuse.

Could you therefore refund the part of my NZNO fees that is paid to the CTU and place them in a strike fund for nurses? In 1999, we were pressured by previous NZNO president Judi Mulholland to vote for Labour, on the grounds we would have much better prospects and our and the patients' lot would improve. What a joke! We are just as badly off in 2004 and our fate has been ignored.

Some time back Health Minister Annette King told nurses bluntly that they could not expect a wage increase. Now she tells us we are entitled to an increase but it must come from existing district health board (DHB) budgets! Fat chance we have of that, when most DHBs have huge deficits. I say the CTU should forego the huge fees NZNO pays them annually, if it is not prepared to fight for all public servants to receive the same benefits.

Peter Kimble, RN, BA

Hamilton

NZNO organising services manager Laila Harre replies: As an article in the December/January 2003/2004 Kai Tiaki Nursing New Zealand explained ("NZNO argues case for superannuation", p30), the CTU failed to persuade the Government that its new superannuation scheme should extend to the district health boards (DHBs) at its start up. NZNO has not taken the CTU to task because it was the Government, not the CTU, who refused to budge on this. The CTU was not trading off nurses against teachers and police--both those groups already had the same or better provisions than the new scheme is providing. Some of those who will immediately benefit from the new scheme are people like low paid Work and Income New Zealand case workers and school administration staff, and I'm sure Peter Kimble wouldn't begrudge them this entitlement.

Of course Annette King's recent statements about wage increases for nurses coming out of existing DHB funds is nonsense, as we plan to demonstrate through our industrial and public Fair Pay Campaign this year. This campaign aims for equity and that includes equity on superannuation. Unions and the CTU have pledged their support in this battle--and we are going to need it.