After more than two years of negotiating for pay equity, thousands of District Health Board office workers say they've been told they will have to wait until after the election.
A DHB clerical worker holds a sign in support of pay equity. Photo: Supplied / PSA
The PSA said it was expecting an offer by the election, and the delay had left members upset and let down.
The union said the DHBs wanted a new mandate from the government before they could make an offer.
About 8400 people work in hospital administration. They are predominantly women in their 50s, 60s and 70s who are on the front line when someone needs medical help.
The workers say they have been underpaid for decades.
Nancy McShane said staff like her did crucial work to keep hospitals functioning and they had been largely invisible until negotiations started in 2018.
"We're the women who book and schedule your surgeries, or rebook and reprioritise them if those surgeries become urgent, we make bookings for diagnostic testing, scans, basically any treatment you require if you're unwell.
"So if we don't do this work, who's going to do it?
"A surgeon is to be expected to book their own surgeries as well as performing the actual operation?" she said.
In the letter to PSA in August, Health Minister Chris Hipkins said the DHBs had a mandate which meant they could "commence bargaining".
"Settling this claim is a priority for this government. I have made my expectation to the DHB clear that they prioritise bargaining and work with PSA to resolve this claim in a timely way," Hipkins said in the letter.
McShane, a PSA delegate, said despite the minister's instructions the brakes had been put on again.
"What we need is an actual offer, and a fair and reasonable way of implementing that.
"Obviously, we're talking about a large amount of money for women who working around the country, but we're just not really getting any discussion around that at all.
"We've been told that the mandate we have currently is not sufficient to enable that and so now we have to go back to the government to get another mandate which, to me, it all sounds very much like time wasting."
McShane said the delay was frustrating and upsetting for women who had been chronically underpaid for decades.
"I look at women around me who have worked their entire lives in the health service who are very committed to what they do, very hardworking and very capable.
"And I see every year women retiring, who have nothing, nothing to survive on in the last years of their life."
Another worker, and co-convener of the PSA's Women's Network, Nia Bartley, said members felt let down, with the pay claim dragging on for too long while they were left struggling to live week to week.
"A lot of individuals are dying a slow death. They're not paying being paid well so that they can just actually enjoy their life and not have to worry as to how they're going to pay their next bill.
"They can't even save for a rainy day. If something comes out of the blue they don't have that money because they're barely able to meet their basic needs."
Bartley said for Pasifika women, like herself, the pay disparity was even greater.
"Today is the day that Pasifika women, for instance, are working for free in comparison to everybody else until the end of the year, and the gap is quite high. I think 25.4 percent is the current gender pay gap.
"And for Māori, tangata whenua of this country, working for free will come into effect next month, less than two weeks away."
Bartley said she was sick of excuses, both for the pay disparity and the delay to their claim and there was no reason why an offer couldn't be on the table before the election.
The lead DHB chief executive for pay equity, Jim Green, said they were committed to achieving pay equity for roles predominantly undertaken by women.
He said bargaining began on 17 August with good progress made, and the parties were consulting with their stakeholders.
Green said negotiations should resume shortly.
Once settled the pay equity deal could lead to pay rises of 20 to 30 percent, as seen with home care and support workers and Oranga Tamariki social workers.
