Andrew Dickens Afternoons

So the nurses have voted to strike.To recap the deal was doubled in May and was worth more than half a billion dollars.It included a three per cent pay increases in June, August and September 2019, as well as a $2000 lump sum payment and an increase to on-call rates. It created two new pay steps at the top end. From December, $72,944 would be the highest base salary, followed by $77,386 from December next year.And it would have had a widespread effect because 15,000 of the 20,030 registered midwives and nurses employed at DHBs were included in the top category. So most nurses were about to break the 70 grand barrier and get close to 80 grandNot only that, at the last moment the DHBs and government added a sweetener of $48m of Ministry of Health funding - $38m to employ between 500 and 600 extra nurses and $10m for new safe staffing measures.The nurses union recommended that the nurses take the deal but they voted against it. They’re going to strike. They want more.But the nation is wondering if there is more