PSA members covered by bargaining for the Health New Zealand I Te Whatu Ora and PSA Policy, Advisory, Knowledge and Specialist Collective Agreement Bargaining have voted by an overwhelming majority to take strike action.

This means undertaking a complete withdrawal of labour from for 11am to 3pm on Thursday 23 October 2025.

The PSA will notify the employer of the strikes. Once notified, your employer should not be approaching you to ask if you are striking. Please let us know if you hear of this taking place.

Only PSA members who are covered by the Health New Zealand I Te Whatu Ora and PSA Policy, Advisory, Knowledge and Specialist Collective Agreement bargaining can lawfully take this strike action.

No. Only those workers who were members of the PSA before we issued the notice of strike action to the employer can take part in the Thursday 23 October strike action.

If you have joined the PSA after we issued the notice of strike action to the employer, you should contact your local PSA organiser and volunteer to work by providing Life Preserving Services (LPS) so that other members can participate in the strike. (See questions on LPS below).

If you joined the PSA before the union gave notice of strike action, you will be able to take part in the strike on Thursday 23 October.

No. Your right to strike is enshrined in law and is a fundamental right of workers during collective bargaining. You cannot be disciplined or discriminated against for exercising your legal right to strike. An employer cannot put pressure on you not to strike. If any of these things happen, contact your local organiser or Te Roopu Tohutohu Manaaki (free phone 0508 367 772).

Yes. Your employer will almost certainly deduct pay from your salary. The amount deducted must only reflect the amount of time you were on strike when you would otherwise be working.

No. It is for the employer to determine how it intends to monitor the strike and deduct pay. However, any reasonable instruction from the employer should be followed. If, for example, you were formally requested to advise whether or not you were on strike, you should answer this question.

No. You cannot be required to make up the time. Making up for the lost time would undermine the purpose of the strike.

If you catch up on outstanding work in your own time, it will defeat the purpose of taking action in the first place. A key point of the action is to disrupt work and demonstrate just how much they need the expertise and hard work of their workforce to get the work done.

Non-members can be asked to cover the work of striking colleagues, but if it is not work they normally do or not within their scope of practise, they can refuse. That is how they can support your strike. Sympathetic union members covered by other collective agreements (e.g., nurses) can be asked but can refuse to do their striking colleagues’ work if it is not work they would normally do or within their scope of practise. We have written to our union colleagues advising them of this strike action. Your colleagues from other unions will be encouraged not to do your work.

An employer cannot employ new staff to do the work of striking employees unless the work is necessary for health and safety reasons.

All PSA members covered by bargaining for the Health New Zealand I Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand I Te Whatu Ora and PSA Policy, Advisory, Knowledge and Specialist (PAKS) Collective Agreement are expected to support the industrial action regardless how they voted, unless they are required to provide Life Preserving Services which will be agreed between Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand and the PSA. It is expected that members will respect the principle of collective responsibility and support the democratic decision of the majority by taking part in the strike. We are stronger together.

PSA members covered by the PAKS collective bargaining who are working from home on Thursday October 23 are expected participate in the strike. You should log off and stop working during the period of the strike (11am to 3pm). We will advise you of pickets and other activities being planned for Thursday 23 October. If you are able, please attend one of these, provided you can get back home to start work from 3pm.

If you are sick, the principles of your sick leave provisions continue to apply, which means you can take sick leave if you or a dependent are genuinely sick.

Yes. You will be paid in accordance with provisions of your conditions of employment.

Your manager should not be asking you individually if you are striking. It is up to the union to give notice of a strike and to decide with the employer for life preserving services and we have done that. Please refer your manager to the union.

Pickets and rallies are being planned. We expect that all members participate in pickets and rallies that have been organised. Members will be updated on details of pickets and rallies.

Since the services you provide are essential, neither the union nor Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand want patients’ life or limb being put at risk. As a way of balancing your right to strike and ensuring that patients are not harmed, unions have had input into the Employment Relations Act code of good faith for the public health sector that sets out how LPS will be provided. LPS means:

1. crisis intervention for the preservation of life:
2. care required for therapeutic services without which life would be jeopardised:
3. urgent diagnostic procedures required to obtain information on potentially life-threatening conditions:
4. crisis intervention for the prevention of permanent disability:
5. care required for therapeutic services without which permanent disability would occur:
6. urgent diagnostic procedures required to obtain information on conditions that could potentially lead to permanent disability.

Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand and the PSA will reach agreement about the provision of LPS before the strikes go ahead. You will hear directly from the union if you are required to work for the LPS.

In the LPS agreement, we agree to an Emergency Protocol that allows Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand to request more staff if an emergency occurs.

Nobody. LPS will be negotiated by union representatives and the employer’s Strike Contingency Planner. This is not negotiated between individual members and managers or team leaders.

PSA members (and teams) are not required to have any of these discussions (and we strongly encourage you not to). The PSA will approach the LPS discussion in good faith, balancing patient safety with your rights to strike.

You should contact your local delegate, Te Roopu Tohutohu Manaaki (free phone 0508 367 772) or your PSA organiser.

We recommend that if you are approached by the media, refer them to your PSA delegate or organiser, who are prepared to speak as PSA representatives. We also have delegates from the bargaining team who have been media trained.

Although members have voted to take strike action, we remain open to further bargaining in an attempt to settle this dispute. We urge Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand to listen to workers and put forward a viable offer.

If the dispute remains unresolved then we will ballot for further industrial action. We will discuss with you and other members in your workplace what this industrial action may look like. We will keep you updated.