Kia ora PHC MECA Member,

Since our last communication NZNO bargaining leads have had two meetings by Zoom with employer and Government/Ministry representatives to discuss the funding issues that are proving to be a barrier to returning to bargaining.

A meeting scheduled for tomorrow (15 July) has been postponed to Wednesday next week. The meeting was delayed so the parties could receive a paper related to the funding issues that will need to be considered before we meet again.

As reported previously, in order to reach any proposed Primary Health Care MECA we need to know there will be funding made available.

For effective negotiations we are also urgently working on confirming who the new representative(s) of the majority of the employer parties will be. This is due to the NZ Medical Association having recently been liquidated. Consequently, there are also legal issues we need to work through related to the expiry date and Bargaining Process Agreement.

We acknowledge that our PHC members continue to be undervalued and that many are looking elsewhere to where they can earn more given the tight market.

We are working on how we can raise a positive profile of your work that will reinforce why it is equally as important as that your peers in the DHB sector.

Look out next week for the first step in this process and a report on the rescheduled Health NZ meeting.

Take care and keep safe.

Ngā mihi,

Chris Wilson, Industrial Advisor PHC, on behalf of your negotiation team