HON JUDITH COLLINS KC: Open letter to the people of New Zealand

To the patients, students and families affected by this week’s planned strike,

The Government regrets the impact on you, your children and your families that is expected on Thursday because of a strike planned by a number of unions.

We regret even more that the strike appears to be politically motivated by the unions.

What else could possibly explain that in early October, when we were trying to negotiate with the secondary teachers’ union, the number one item on their agenda for a meeting with Education Minister Erica Stanford was Palestine.

Palestine. Not terms and conditions. Not student achievement. Not the new curriculum. Palestine. That’s not what students or parents should expect.

So, to all the parents of senior students – most who have already endured ongoing interruptions throughout their schooling and who are now missing two crucial days of classes less than two weeks out from NCEA exams – I urge you to ask your children’s teachers to question their union’s priorities.

And to all the parents of younger children, who have had to rearrange their usual commitments, I urge you to ask your children’s teachers why their union arranged a strike in a week when many schools already have teacher only days, followed by Labour Day on Monday.

The Government has acted in good faith, and we have met unions’ demands for pay increases in line with inflation. Our request that teacher-only days and professional development be undertaken in school holidays to reduce disruption to students and families was refused.

To the estimated more than 6000 New Zealanders who have had medical appointments and procedures postponed due to the strike, I know some of you are living in pain, and in fear of a possible diagnosis that will now be delayed.

This industrial action is unfair and unwarranted.

Health Minister Simeon Brown even wrote to the Chair of Health New Zealand, and Association of Salaried Medical Specialists union seeking their agreement to attend binding arbitration, and for the union to not proceed with the strike action. Health New Zealand agreed. The union refused.

The Government values nurses, doctors and other health workers whose dedicated care every day supports patients, just as we value teachers, principals and teacher aides. We value all public sector employees.

The Government also has a responsibility to manage the country’s finances carefully, especially when money is tight.

From cancer drugs to social housing, from support for vulnerable people to conservation initiatives, there are thousands of appeals for increased spending, as well as for wage increases.

The country is simply not earning enough to meet all these calls.

After a huge increase in public spending over Covid and in the following years, public debt exploded. In the financial year ending in June 2025, New Zealand spent $8.9 billion just servicing debt. This was more than the Government spent on Police, Corrections, the Ministry of Justice, Customs and Defence combined.

Only by New Zealand becoming wealthier can we afford to spend more.

We have made numerous offers to key unions, and in some cases, these have been rejected without even being put to union members.

The Government wants settlements, and New Zealanders want certainty that hospitals and schools and other services will operate as normal. It is only unions who want strikes. We ask, once again, for them to come to the table. That is the place to talk and to bargain.

THE FACTS:

Teachers:

• The latest offer to primary teachers means 66 percent will be paid a base salary of at least $100,000 within 12 months of ratification – up from 40 percent currently.

• The latest offer to secondary teachers means 76 percent will be paid a base salary of at least $100,000 from 29 October 2025 – up from 60 percent currently.

• The latest offers come on top of the $53 million the Government is spending to pay teachers’ registration and levies, of up to $550 per teacher.

• Teachers will continue to enjoy very generous annual leave provisions

Senior doctors:

• The latest offer would have provided a salary increase of at least 5 percent over two years, with the ability to provide an additional increase for first-year specialists. These increases are additional to the $5900 annual step increase senior doctors receive until they reach the top of the 15-step pay scale.

• In addition, a $40 million fund is proposed for distribution to senior doctors in recognition of the value of their work and to support the workforce.

Nurses:

• The average salary for both Senior and Registered Nurses is $125,662, which includes overtime, a professional development allowance and penal rates. Under the offer, nurses on the top step would have had a 2 percent increase in June 2025 - an extra $2135 per year - with another 1 percent increase in June next year.

• Under the June offer, a graduate nurse on $75,773 would have received 2 percent from 2 June 2025 – an extra $1515 per year. A year later, their salary would have increased to $83,317 – a total increase of $7544 or $145 per week. On 1 June 2026 they would have received an additional 1 percent increase, taking their salary to $84,150. That’s a total pay increase of $8377, or 11 percent, by 1 June 2026.

Public v private sector:

• Public sector wages grew 2.8 percent in the year to June 2025

• Private sector wage growth was 2.3 percent in the year to June 2025

Hon Judith Collins KC is the Public Service Minister