Home Support Workers To Strike Over Poor Pay, ‘Broken' System
Nearly 1000 support workers from one of the country's largest home support companies are walking off the job tomorrow to protest chronically low pay and a recent attempt by their employer to claw back staff conditions.
Access Community Health support workers will strike from 12-2pm on Thursday, 1 May – International Workers' Day – the same day as senior doctors and Auckland City Hospital's perioperative nurses will also walk off the job.
'For the first time in nearly 20 years, our members have overwhelmingly voted to take strike action,' Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi assistant secretary Melissa Woolley says.
'Despite receiving increased public funding, Access Community Health have put up an insulting offer: no pay increase, introducing 90-day trials, reducing sick days, and taking away qualifications pay steps undermining the integrity of the 2017 care and support worker pay equity settlement.'
Most workers are on minimum wage or slightly above, but none have received a pay increase for nearly two years.
The strike follows a two-hour stop-work meeting undertaken by workers on 15 April.
'Home support workers are an incredibly dedicated group of people – it takes a lot for them to walk off the job,' Woolley says.
'But they recognise that the incredible strain on health workers is not acceptable or sustainable – as do New Zealand's senior doctors and nurses, who are also striking tomorrow.
'The fact that Access workers are all taking industrial action tomorrow alongside senior doctors and perioperative nurses really highlights how broken the system is.'
An anonymous Access Community Health worker says that their work is hugely under-valued.
'We are paid minimum wage to deliver essential care, 24/7 and 365 days a year. Our phones are always ringing because our employer cannot attract and retain staff at their current pay rates.
'The sad thing is that while we are burnt out, we know that if we don't provide the care then no-one will. At the end of the day, our clients are the ones that miss out.'
Support workers play an essential role within healthcare, providing in-home care for everyone from the elderly to those with mobility issues or recovering from surgery.
Their duties include using hoist equipment to lift clients, managing hygiene, administering medication, personal cares and liaising with other healthcare professionals on any changes in their clients.
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