Our Bargaining

When notice of industrial action is received or given, an employer must develop a contingency plan (if it has not already done so) and take all reasonable and practical steps to ensure that it can provide life preserving services.

If the employer believes it cannot provide any life preserving service without the assistance of members of the union, it must make a request of the union seeking the union's and its members' agreement to maintain or to assist in maintaining life preserving services.

The request must include specific details about the services the employer seeks assistance to maintain; the employer’s contingency plan relating to the life preserving service; and the support it requires from union members. 

The LPS agreements reached between ASMS and Te WHATU ORA for our strikes can be viewed HERE.

These agreements set out the agreed number of SMOs required in each service to  maintain life preserving services.

The employer needs to find only enough people to cover the number of roles identified in the LPS agreements for each hospital to provide life preserving services.  

The employer can only require as many SMOs to work in a service as defined by the LPS agreement for that hospital. Not more.

Here is the process that Te Whatu Ora must follow:

1. The employer must advise each service/department of the agreed number of SMOs that are required to work during the strike (and whether on call or on duty).
2. The employer must first identify any non-union members (who obviously cannot strike) to fill these positions.
3. Only when that option of non-union members is exhausted, and there are still unfilled LPS positions, can the employer generally ask for volunteers to fill the union LPS positions.  SMO members may decide amongst themselves who should fill the vacancies.
4. Striking SMOs should not volunteer for LPS duties where the LPS quota for a service is already full.

The employer cannot do the following things:

• The employer should not ask you if you are striking.  If such enquiries are made, the employer should be told to communicate with the union.
• The employer cannot try and dissuade you from striking.
• The employer cannot ask individuals “will you be working during the strike?” or “are you available to work during the strike?” (or a variation of that question).
• The employer cannot ask for volunteers without disclosing the LPS places agreed for the service, and how many positions are still vacant.
• The employer cannot ask members to perform duties at a higher staffing level than what was agreed in the LPS agreement.
• The employer cannot require an SMO providing LPS services to perform non-LPS duties.
   

If the employer is having trouble finding volunteers, they must first raise the problem with ASMS. 

If you have concerns about the LPS arrangements at your hospital or the requests that are being made by the employer about working during the strike, you can talk to your local branch officers, your local industrial officer, an executive member, or just phone us here at the ASMS National Office 0800 282 767. We are very happy to help.

Please feed back to ASMS if you think we have got it wrong in our last LPS agreement.