“ACC medical advisors are poised to walk off the job tomorrow because they’ve had a gutsful of their employer’s cavalier approach to their pay, conditions and well-being,” says Lloyd Woods, a Senior Industrial Officer at the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS).
The 39 medical advisors will strike for four hours from 8am Tuesday 17 July as part of weekly rolling stoppages over their stalled employment agreement negotiations.
“It’s only the second time ever that we can recall senior doctors in New Zealand going on strike,” says Mr Woods.
“That says something about the level of dismay they’re feeling over ACC’s refusal of their perfectly reasonable claims for improvements to their pay and conditions.”
The medical advisors are seeking a redundancy agreement that matches what other ACC employees are eligible for, a simple statement about the importance of staff well-being included in the collective agreement, and a 1% per year salary increase.
“They’re not exactly asking for the moon and the stars,” says Mr Woods. “These claims are very restrained and reasonable, and they’re gobsmacked that ACC is acting as if they’ve asked for gold-plated desks and dancing unicorns.
“ACC is a government organisation with the express purpose of promoting prevention, care and recovery – yet they won’t include a statement on well-being in an employment agreement for a small group of their employees. Come on ACC, you can do better.”
Further strikes are planned for:
Wednesday 25 July, 1pm – 5pm
Thursday 2 August, 8am – 12 noon
Friday 10 August, 1pm – 5pm
