Aotearoa New Zealand will witness historic events next Thursday when about 100,000 essential workers stand side by side to call on the Coalition Government to properly fund vital public services.

Essential public service workers including teachers, doctors, principals, nurses, allied health workers, home support workers, policy, knowledge, advisory and specialist workers, and mental and public health nurses, will strike on 23 October in the largest industrial action in decades.

The strikes by each workforce follow recent breakdowns in bargaining over their respective collective agreements. Events at 36 locations from Kaitaia to Gore have now been finalised.

Below essential public sector workers share, in their own words, why they are striking on Thursday 23 October.

 

Michelle Roche – Kaitāia Hospital nurse 

To be short and sweet, we’re striking for patient and staff safety. To be part of a massive joint union strike is a little scary for a rural location, but we have a great cause that we’re fighting for. 

 

Steven Grant - Northland Sterilising Technician

There is a strike happening on Thursday—despite what the government wants you to believe. Not all members who are striking are highly paid; far from it. Many of us in the PSA are living week to week, struggling to make ends meet. We deserve a pay increase that actually keeps pace with the soaring cost of living—not the pay cuts we’ve been offered. That’s unacceptable.

Beyond wages, the crisis in recruitment and retention is dire. It’s taking too long to replace vital staff because of Health New Zealand’s budget cuts and inefficient recruitment processes. We are stretched thin, lacking the resources we desperately need to do our jobs effectively.

New Zealand deserves a strong, resilient public service—one that stands firm for every Kiwi when they need it most. Public services like health and education are the backbone of our society. Without them, what kind of legacy will we leave for our children?

This strike isn’t just about pay; it’s about the future of our country. It’s about standing up for fairness, dignity, and the essential services every New Zealander depends on. We will not be ignored.

 

Rachel Thorn – Whangārei Hospital nurse 

I am striking on 23 October to highlight the fast-deteriorating health system and severely underfunded public services across New Zealand. The deliberate underfunding of public services across the country is leading to unsafe staffing, poor health outcomes and unnecessary death in our hospitals. 

We work with too few staff, in buildings which are no longer fit for purpose and for wages that no longer meet the huge cost of living increases. I am asking the government to acknowledge that it has CHOSEN to underfund health and as a result be directly responsible for the failing health system in New Zealand.  

Health New Zealand have not listened to nurses over the last year of bargaining, and have not acted on our claims. Therefore, they have left us no choice but to strike, to put pressure on the government to increase the funding for health and resolve the serious issues we are putting before them. 

 

Bastienne Johnston – Whangārei principal Hukerenui nurse 

We need the government to actually fund education (the building blocks of a nation), with the resources needed to create an attractive job that has the ability to provide an effective education for all student needs, staff and parents.  At this stage, it is very thin on the ground and we are in crisis!  There are many excellent examples of this in the world.  Slovania, with only 2.5 million people, is doing so much better for their students, parents and staff. Why? We are in crisis! 

 

Martyn Weatherill – Auckland principal 

Politicians may talk about fiscal envelopes, but principals and teachers are focused on children — this strike isn’t about money, it’s about respect and having the resources to do the job properly. 

 

Iona Mathison - Auckland Mental Health Nurse

Striking is a last resort – a necessary tool used by union members to communicate to the New Zealand public that we stand beside them.

The New Zealand public deserves better. Less than adequate healthcare services due to inadequate staffing levels equates to longer wait times for healthcare provision across the health system.

 

Liandra Conradie – Middlemore Hospital (South Auckland) nurse 

I am participating in the strike action because the ongoing issue of chronic staffing shortages is having a significant impact on nurses and compromising the quality of care being provided. 
  
I am aware of instances where nurses have attended work while unwell, injured, or have returned from surgery or serious injuries earlier than medically advised due to the immense pressure within the system. The inability to adequately cover unplanned sick leave further exacerbates these challenges.   

Our patients deserve to be cared for by nurses who are healthy, well-rested, and fully recovered, so that they can provide safe, effective, and compassionate care. 

 

Desi Walker – Waikato teacher 

Teachers are not here for a tiki tour — we’re here for transformation through education. Our fight is for everyone’s future. A learning assistant in every classroom isn’t an extra; they’re essential. ‘Tokorua te rongoā – kaiako me te kaiawhina!" (Two is the solution – teacher and assistant!)’ 

 

Melissa Jacobsen – Tauranga Hospital nurse 

I’m going on strike to be a voice for voiceless, vulnerable people in need of support. 

The reason why I think it's a great idea that we're doing combined pickets is that the government isn't willing to listen to us individually, but maybe they'll hear us now. 

 

Linda Logan – Rotorua Hospital nurse 

I am participating in the strike on the 23rd because I am concerned about my ability to consistently provide patients with the care they require. As a member of the Emergency Department team, I have witnessed extended wait times during the winter months, with many critically ill patients needing attention. Despite our team's dedicated efforts, it has been challenging to see every patient promptly due to staffing shortages. 

The persistent strain has left our team feeling exhausted and disheartened, as we believe that Health New Zealand and the current government have not adequately addressed our concerns or recognised the challenges faced by our staff. 

On 23 October, our aim is to advocate for safer working conditions and improved support for all staff. Maranga Mai! 

 

Noreen McCallan – Hawke’s Bay nurse 

We are doing this because we fear for the safety of our patients. We will lose pay for striking but we are standing up for safe staffing because it is the right thing to do. 

We became health workers because we want to care for people. But staff shortages have become overwhelming and exhausting for many of us. Our patients are suffering longer because we can’t get to them as quickly as we should. 

 

Reina Cotter – Wairoa learning support coordinator 

Our work conditions are getting tougher and our wages don’t reflect the amount of work we do. We are being bombarded with new curriculum with no regular professional development. As a beginning teacher I don’t think we get enough professional development to be able to support new curriculum initiatives and support how to learn to be a teacher first, working with diverse children. I feel like I have twice as much pressure to keep up with everything. And going home feeling burnt out. 

 

Jane Swift – Palmerston North Hospital nurse 

I am striking for safer staffing and better patient ratios, and for the better care of my patients. I think, with the unions combined together, the New Zealand public has spoken, and the Government shouldn't sit up and take notice. 

 

Mike Pye – Corrections nurse 

I'm taking part because I'm concerned that in current circumstances and into the future, we won't be able to retain high quality staff to provide care for our patients who have been incarcerated by society but still deserve the best of care. 

It's good to see public servants working together to uphold the quality of the services that we provide to New Zealanders. 

 

Saju Cherian – Palmerston North Hospital nurse 

I work in mental health and see unsafe situations every day. Our kaimahi are being assaulted, and our tangata whaiora aren’t getting the care they deserve because of constant staff shortages. We need to act now — joining with other unions will make our voices stronger. 

 

Liam Rutherford – Palmerston North teacher 

We wish we weren't out here. The current offer from the Government won't help us in recruiting new teachers and keeping the ones we currently have.  The pull of Australia is too much.  We elect Governments to fix issues.  We need serious investment in education, not just the tinkering around the edges. 

 

Amy Tubman – Wairarapa Hospital nurse  

I'm going on strike because I just feel like we're not being heard, especially around the aspects of safe staffing.  It's becoming quite hard to cope with shifts because of how the acuity of the ward was in an emergency. I had to recently do 14 hours in an eight-hour shift. Another nursing colleague had to fit in 18 hours into an eight-hour shift. 

I think it's amazing that it's not only our union that is feeling the pinch. It's the fact that so many other public service workers are just not being heard and that the government seems to be completely out of touch with the common person. Hopefully this joint strike might actually make them step up and notice and see that we are doing it hard. It’s not about money!  

 

Hollie Laird – Whanganui teacher 

On 23 October, NZEI Te Riu Roa members in Whanganui and across Aotearoa strike for our tamariki. We stand for fair learning support, appropriate staffing and resourcing that impact children's learning positively from early childhood right through to secondary. Every ākonga deserves the right people, the right support, and a system that honours Te Tiriti o Waitangi and equity for all. In the words of Nelson Mandela, ‘There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children’. 

 

Nathan Clark – Hutt Hospital nurse

Why I'm striking is after over 12 months of having an expired contract with an offer that fails to meet cost of living increases, gives no guarantee to safe staffing for patients and for the employer to fail to acknowledge their own data with regards to chronic staffing shortage we have been forced by Health NZ into no other situation than to strike. 

This strike action is a direct result of Health NZ failing to listen to the needs of staff regarding our concerns to chronic understaffing, risks to patient safety by the under resourcing of shifts that occurs on a daily basis and also not employing to their own data staffing deficits. 

Any patient harm that may occur lands squarely at the feet of the Health NZ management and the Minister of Health who blame and deflect responsibility for the current staffing and unsafe working situations we face on a daily basis.  

They could have settled this months ago and should take full responsibility for patient harm that occurs.

 

Hilary Gardner – Wellington Hospital nurse 

I am striking as a proud NZNO member working at Te Whatu Ora because our patients are already being put at risk by unsafe staffing levels. We do not take this action lightly, but every day we are stretched beyond safe limits, and it’s our patients who suffer. Striking is the only way left to demand safe staffing, fair pay and the respect needed to keep nurses in the profession and ensure our communities get the care they deserve. 

 

Jenna Osborne-Taylor - Wellington Senior Advisor

It’s important for workers to strike to send a clear message to the Government that critical public services are under-funded, under-staffed, and under-resourced.

The unions have not told their members to strike; a union is only as strong as its membership. We – the workers and the membership - have voted to strike as a last resort to get the Government to listen. The majority of kaimahi aren’t here for the pay – they care deeply about the work that they do and the services they provide New Zealanders, but they want to be able to do their mahi safely and effectively and be fairly recognised of it.

My members are tired to their bones. The proposed offer from Health NZ is a joke; it’s an effective pay cut when many kaimahi have already accepted new roles at lower pay in the relentless restructures we have experienced for the last 24 months plus. My members want their frustrations recognised and their years of experience reflected in a fair pay offer. They want their workloads to be reasonable and manageable. They want to know that tomorrow, they’ll be able to pay their mortgage and keep their children in childcare because they have job security and a salary that meets the cost-of-living crisis.

My work matters because I am the front-line to the Minister and Associate Ministers of Health. Without people like me and my members, there would be no new policy implemented, no new services designed, and no advice provided to inform any of those Ministerial decisions. Ministers would not have answers to questions in question time, and members of the public would not receive responses to requests under the Official Information Act or the Privacy Act – both of which are critical for effective democracy.

 

Hilary Genet – Nelson Health Promoter

Staff shortages are already leading to long wait times for appointments and procedures.  The public we serve is entitled to feel angry and frustrated. We work within the system and every day also feel frustrated, angry and betrayed. Our community deserves better.

We disappoint our patients and ourselves and this leaves us stressed.

We are reliant on IT and data flows for efficient patient management. This workforce has been slashed to the bones. We are unable to access the relevant and important information needed to provide the care that we should all expect.

We believe we can make a difference to so many people, stopping them getting sick and helping them when they journey through our health system. We are not widgets, dealing with other widgets to meet set targets. We deal with real people with real and complex problems which require time to be heard and sensitivity alongside the skills we are trained to deliver.

 

Louise Baker - Nelson Health Assistant

In my job, I get to help people recover from surgery, from illness, from injury. I take out equipment, I help them with their exercises. I make sure they have what they need to get healthy and stay healthy. I really care about my job, because I get to make a difference every day.

No-one on strike today is giving up a day’s pay, and getting further behind in their workload, because of politics. I want to be at work, doing what I love to do, which is getting paid fairly to look after my patients.

 

Amanda Jennings – Timaru Hospital nurse 

Nurses from Timaru hospital are striking because we have had no resolution to the significant issue of under resourcing in our health system. The largest part of our current contract negotiation is for safe staffing levels, as we must have enough nurses every day on every duty to provide a safe standard of care for our patients. It is through industrial action that we can demonstrate these concerns and demand action from our government. 

 

Bridget Chilton – Canterbury teacher                    

I am striking because the tamariki are the future of our motu and we need to invest in them NOW. Teaching must be a valued profession to ensure we retain and attract quality teachers, support staff, and principals. Aotearoa can and should be providing a world renowned education to our tamariki and mokopuna. So, when I strike, I strike for my own children, the tamariki in my class and the tamariki who I'm yet to teach. 

 

Raewyn Himona – Canterbury teacher 

I am striking because kaiako Māori are overworked and undervalued. We carry te reo me ōna tikanga, care for our tamariki, and lead cultural practices — often without fair pay or support.I strike for our profession and a better future for our tamariki. He kaupapa mō te tika. 

 

Debbie Handisides – Burwood Hospital nurse 

Many of us are experiencing burnout, stress, and fatigue. We’re being asked to care for more and more patients who are increasingly unwell with fewer and fewer staff.  

This is not just about feeling tired it’s about being pushed past the point where we can safely do our jobs, staffing shortages are putting patients safety at risk when there aren’t enough nurses, care is delayed and lives are put in danger this is not a standard of care we trained for.  

I feel it is time to join together as we have similar concerns around underfunding and safe staffing. We are not being listened to at the negotiating table. There’s strength in numbers irrespective of what sector we’re in.  

 

Al Dietschin – Christchurch Hospital health care assistant 

I'm striking on 23 October because Te Whatu Ora and this government have failed to meet the needs of NZNO members, especially with regards to safe staffing and a cost-of-living wage claim.  

I'm also striking as a public sector employee sick of the attacks and cuts being made across the public sector, especially with public healthcare. 

 

Anne Daniels – NZNO President Dunedin Hospital 

This is a historic day where everybody is joining together instead of actually doing it on their own. What's incredible for me is that the people of New Zealand understand that they have to stand up together because this government is just refusing to listen to any evidence, any common sense and does not have any care for the people.  

A government is supposed to actually do its best for the greater good. It's doing the opposite, and the people realise that they need to stand together to make sure the Government can't ignore them. 

It will not go away. It’s only the beginning. 

 

Amberleigh Stenhouse – Dunedin speech and language therapist 

In the 6.5 years I’ve been with the Ministry we’ve lost significant numbers of experienced staff, leading to gaps in knowledge and gaps in service. I love my job but high workloads and difficulties recruiting and retaining staff means I can’t do the job I trained for - a job that I know benefits tamariki, whānau and communities. I’m striking because without a better offer that addresses workloads and makes us feel valued, tamariki will continue to miss out. 

 

Toby Stoddard - Otago Sterilising Supply Technician

I think it's important to strike to show the government we won't stand for the underfunding of the public service. We deserve to be paid a living wage, as well as offer competitive wages to retain staff and be able to safely staff our public service.

Currently in the Sterile Services in Dunedin, we have been chronically underfunded, working in a workplace which is unfit for service. Our Theatre Sterile Unit is stuck in a corridor with poor ventilation. We are currently understaffed and over worked and overly committed to ensuring patients get the best of care.

Sterile Services is a vital part of the hospital. Although we aren't directly on the front line, we provide all clean and sterile reusable items throughout the hospital including all surgeries.

We ensure all tools are fit for purpose and sterile so that every single patient can breathe easy knowing that the tools used in all procedures are clean and free of germs and bacteria which cause infection. If there wasn't a sterile service there wouldn't be a clean procedure.

 

Kerry Hawkins – Invercargill principal 

I am going on strike because every time the circus in Wellington changes owners, education gets a new ringmaster. Sometimes they turn out to be more of a lion-tamer, a juggler, an illusionist, or even a clown. New education crises, priorities, and curriculum overhauls are announced (as are the politically-inspired solutions) by politicians purporting to have the answers. Enough is enough!    

In the longer term, what NZ really needs is a plan for NZ education that sits above and well-beyond the clutches of electioneering politics; a strategic plan that doesn't change every time the circus changes hands. Bi-partisan, tri-partisan, multi-partisan; whatever it takes!