Nurses endorse primary health agreement.

Nurses working in the primary health care (PHC) sector look set to endorse the PHC Multi-Employer Collective Agreement (MECA).

When Kai Tiaki Nursing New Zealand went to press, MECA advocate, NZNO organiser Chris Wilson, said the trend was overwhelmingly in favour of the MECA. "Once ratification has been completed, this will be the biggest MECA in the country in any sector. This is a very significant achievement for NZNO, for PHC members and for those who receive care in the primary health sector, "she said.

The MECA provides a very significant pay increase, moving towards pay parity for nurses and significantly improves conditions. "It will contribute significantly to the recruiment and retention of nurses in the sector and this will have an important flow-on effect in terms of quality and continuity of care for those who receive care in the primary health sector," Wilson said.

The MECA was negotiated over a year, with bargaining beginning in December 2005 and a proposed setttement reached last December. Since then, the New Zealand Medical Association (NZMA), which represented 599 employers in the MECA negotiations, has conducted ratification among its members. NZNO subsequently entered into "serious negotiations" with those employers who had either voted against the MECA or not responded to the NZMA ratification process. When this issue of Kai Tioki Nursing New Zealand went to press, 557 employers had signed up to the MECA. NZNO is progressing legal action against a small group of employers who ignored their legal responsibilities and did not take part in the MECA bargaining, Wilson said.