Three agreements in primary health care.

Three separate collective agreements covering primary health care (PHC) nurses is the most likely scenario emerging from PHC multi-employer collective agreement (MECA) negotiations. In August, Maori and iwi PHC employers decided they wanted a separate MECA for their NZNO members. NZNO has subsequently signed a memorandum of understanding with these employers outlining agreed principles in relation to any Maori and iwi MECA, which would be the first such agreement in New Zealand.

The Maori and iwi providers have agreed to the principle of pay parity and to, jointly with NZNO, pursue extra funding for a pay parity settlement. They have also agreed to include the progress and agreements reached during the PHC MECA negotiations in any new MECA. The unique practices of Maori and iwi providers and valuing of their staff will also be recognised in the formation of a new MECA.

Memorandum of understanding

NZNO advocate Chris Wilson said the MoU between NZNO and the Maori and iwi providers was the first step in moving towards a Maori and iwi provider MECA which would be a unique and historic document. "There has been a lot of goodwill on both sides to ensure that our members working for these employers get a fair deal, which also recognises the different ways of working within these providers. We are taking a partnership approach," she said.

NZNO is now balloting members working in Maori and iwi providers to gauge whether they want a separate MECA. There are more than go such providers with NZNO members. Wilson hopes to have the balloting completed by early next month. McKessons New Zealand Ltd has made a settlement offer with pay rates within the national district health board (DHB)/NZNO MECA range. NZNO has around 40 members working for McKessons and are balloting them this month on whether they accept the offer and whether they want a single collective agreement.

Negotiations with the remaining 570 PHC employers represented by the New Zealand Medical Association (NZMA) are continuing and NZNO advocate Chris Wilson is "reasonably confident" a settlement can be reached at negotiations scheduled for the middle of this month.

Negotiations last month made further progress, with NZMA recognising a professional development andrecognition programme, including a redundancy compensation clause and agreeing to no "automatic" pass on of the MECA provisions to non-NZNO members.

Key issues for the negotiations this month included coverage, wage rates, wage scale progression, merit criteria and penal rates. Wilson said she was not disappointed that the original plan for one PHC MECA covering around 3000 members and 600+ employers had not been realised.

Significant achievement

"Quite the contrary in fact. The development of the national DHB/NZNO MECA was a step-by-step consolidation of individual DHB agreements into regional agreements and finally a national agreement, which took some years. What we have achieved in these negotiations is very significant. The proposed PHC MECA will be the largest MECA in New Zealand. These negotiations have seen a more union/employee friendly approach in terms of the clauses agreed, with increased benefits such as more annual leave and professional development. The Maori and iwi provider MECA is a significant innovation and McKessons' employees will move from individual agreements to a single collective agreement. I think the bargaining team, backed by NZNO's PHC members throughout the country, has achieved enormous gains which we will build on in future negotiations," Wilson said.