A member petition calling for a motion of no confidence in the Board of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation was submitted to the union’s Chief Executive yesterday. It follows the resignation of the President, Vice-President and three other directors of the eleven-member Board in the space of seven weeks.
The petition calls for a Special General Meeting (SGM) to consider the motion:
“That the membership of NZNO expresses no confidence in the current Board of Directors, calls for the dissolution of the full Board and requests that an election be held for all eleven Director positions, according to the provisions of the NZNO Constitution.”
In order to hold an SGM, the NZNO Constitution requires a petition to be signed by more than 1% of financial members (around 510 people).
“By our count, well over 1,500 NZNO members have signed the petition”, said Marion Guy, QSO, NZNO Democracy Now! spokesperson and former NZNO President. “That’s more than the number who voted for some of the six remaining Board members.
“The NZNO Chief Executive has said that an SGM will be called within 30 days of the petition being lodged. It needs to happen quickly, because with five vacant seats on the Board it places extra pressure on the remaining six to be able to govern effectively. Passing this motion should clear the way for fresh elections to all eleven positions.”
Spokesperson and former NZNO President Diane Stuchbury said she was distraught at the divisions in NZNO, which opened up in 2018-19 and are now growing even deeper. “Amid personal attacks and racial animosity, the Special General meeting provides the hope of resolving the dysfunction in the Board”, she said.
“Supporters of the petition come from every part of NZNO – from the membership in the DHBs, Primary Health, Private Hospitals and Aged Care Sectors, from every NZNO Region, from Te Rūnanga o Aotearoa NZNO, from our professional Colleges and Sections and the National Student Unit.
“This real unity in action is what can salvage NZNO’s professionalism, focus our union back on the members and restore our battered bicultural partnerships.”
The petitioners are asking for the motion to be put in front of the whole membership, rather than just being decided by the 33 designated representatives of NZNO member groups who could, under the terms of the NZNO Constitution, choose to vote on it themselves without wider consultation.
“There is a massive groundswell behind our petition”, NZNO Democracy Now! spokesperson and former President Nano Tunnicliff. “For the sake of NZNO’s integrity, I urge the member representatives to allow this motion to be decided democratically by the wider membership through ‘one member, one vote’.”
The three spokespeople hope that through this process, NZNO members can move on together, rebuild relationships and restore confidence in the organisation representing 51,000 of New Zealand’s nurses, midwives, students, kaimahi hauora, health care workers and allied health professionals.
ENDS
First published on Change.org. Reposted with permission.
Three former Presidents of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation have united in a call for fresh elections for the full NZNO Board. The call is the subject of a petition launched today for a Special General Meeting (SGM) of the organisation.
“As the first NZNO President to embed the Memorandum of Understanding with Te Rūnanga o Aotearoa NZNO, which brought us together in bicultural partnership twenty years ago, I have been distraught to see the deep divisions now opening up along a number of fronts”, said Diane Stuchbury (2000-2001).
“The election of six new Board members last year did not heal the divisions, as they remained mired in unresolved conflicts. To end our internal divisions, we need to do more than elect another five people to fill the current vacancies. We need a clean slate. That’s why I’m supporting the call for fresh elections for all eleven positions.”
Marion Guy, QSO (2005-2009, 2012-2015) is concerned about the lack of governance experience now represented around the NZNO Board table.
“Four of the six remaining Board members have been in the role for less than 18 months”, she said. “It simply isn’t fair to expect them to govern our venerable organisation with its 50,000 members.
“To truly uphold the professionalism which our organisation stands for, there needs to be an opportunity to bring in a more experienced Board. I support the SGM petition to enable this.”
Nano Tunnicliff (2009-12) led the development and adoption of the current NZNO Constitution. “Confidence has been shaken in our democratic processes”, she said, “as practice has strayed far from the Constitution’s original intention.
“I support a motion for fresh elections for the full NZNO Board. But I urge any SGM held on this matter to use its Constitutional power to make the motion an all of membership decision, conducted via an all member ballot.
“That’s what we did in 2011 when the organisation faced a decision of similar magnitude, and the NZNO AGM put the question of adopting a new Constitution to a ballot of all members.”
All three former Presidents agree that NZNO requires sound governance to best uplift the health and wellbeing of New Zealanders.
“Health outcomes improve when fifty thousand voices unite to advocate for their patients and the profession”, they say. “It’s only when we are united and focused that we can secure safe staffing and terms and conditions to address the upcoming workforce shortages. These matters can’t wait.“
The SGM petition calling for fresh elections has been launched by NZNO Democracy Now!, a group of concerned members.
If the petition is signed by 1% of membership, around 500 financial members, then the matter is constitutionally required to go to a Special General Meeting.
The 30 questions below were submitted by administrators of the Facebook group, “New Zealand, please hear our voice”. Formed in 2018 by two anonymous nurses using the pseudonym “Nurse Florence”, it has grown to 39,000 members. It is the largest New Zealand-based Facebook group for nurses and our supporters.
1. What was the final straw which caused you to resign from NZNO so suddenly and in the middle of a pandemic?
The considerations which led me to resign are outlined in the public statement I made on 24 April 2020. The last straw was when I learnt, two weeks earlier on 8 April 2020, that a lawyer would be hired to advise on further actions which could be taken against me as a result of the Special General Meeting held in December.
My statement explains that I spent two weeks thinking about what to do, and about the thousands of NZNO members and supporters who stood up for me against the previous Board in 2019. As we were all struggling on the front lines as essential workers and at home in our bubbles, I said, I couldn’t ask for you to do that again. I couldn’t put my family through those public legal battles again, either. So I submitted my letter of resignation.
2. How has CEO Memo Musa been involved in this situation?
A statement posted on the official NZNO Facebook page at 7:09 PM on 24 April 2020 said: “Members will now have heard that NZNO President Grant Brookes has resigned, effective from today. This is strictly a matter between Grant Brookes and the Board. No staff were involved in the decision or events leading up to it and we are surprised and saddened by this news.”
I can vouch for the truth of that statement.
3. How has Kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku been involved in this situation?
Kerri Nuku, in her role as NZNO Co-leader, chaired all of the Board meetings in 2019 which made decisions about removing me from office. She represented the Board against me publicly and in the media, and continues to do so.
In her role as Kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku is also leader of Te Rūnanga o Aotearoa NZNO, the NZNO group for members identifying as Tangata Whenua. On 29 April 2020, Te Rūnanga released a public statement, containing many inaccuracies, which was disparaging of myself and the three other Board members who resigned after me. I do not intend to direct people to that shameful statement.
4. There has been significant discussion regarding racism and discrimination from NZNO management and the BOD. How did this develop and how has this been allowed to fester in such a way?
Racism is a feature of societies in New Zealand and around the world. It is usually most obvious in the attitudes and behaviours of individuals but it also exists in the structure of institutions, including NZNO. Racism towards Māori developed through the ongoing processes of colonisation. One of the most distressing things about the Special General Meetings in 2019, and the decision last month to reopen those matters, is the way that it has seriously undermined efforts to tackle this racism.
5. The change in the constitution allowing the Kaiwhakahaere to remain in office permanently – what is the rationale for this, what is your position, and how did this influence your decision to leave NZNO?
The change in the NZNO Constitution which allows the Kaiwhakahaere to remain in office permanently was made through a vote of member representatives at the NZNO AGM in 2017. The “constitutional remit” (or proposal for change) was submitted by Te Poari, the Committee of Te Rūnanga. The rationale given by Te Poari may be read in full at this link.
This change was not a factor in my decision to resign.
Reporting the AGM debate about this remit in their October 2017 issue, Kai Tiaki noted: “Some delegates questioned how the change would affect succession planning and whether the constitutional change would prevent new leaders from emerging”. I supported the remit in 2017, but my position now is that these questions were valid.
6. What specific issues do you feel you were unable to gain momentum on within NZNO which contributed to your resignation?
The public statement which I made when I resigned on 24 April 2020 talked about the issues which were important to me, and which of them failed to gain momentum.
My key priorities, I said, were heeding the voice of the membership, tackling health inequities through an unrelenting focus on their social determinants, and strengthening NZNO’s bicultural partnership. I do feel that by working with members, together we were able to make NZNO a more membership-driven organisation. And NZNO is more focused than ever on tackling health inequities and their social determinants.
But as I also wrote, “Having put my heart and soul into strengthening NZNO’s bicultural partnership for four and a half years, I am devastated that I can now see no way of achieving the type of genuine partnership that our Constitution envisages and our membership deserve.”
This issue did contribute to my decision to resign.
7. Who are the “shadowy forces” you refer to in your resignation letter, and how have they contributed to your resignation?
“Shadowy forces”, by definition, are individuals and groups who operate out of sight, behind a front. They are the ones, I said, who were behind the Board’s bid to remove me from office last year and to stem the tide of member-led change. They contributed to my resignation because they were continuing to pursue these goals, and I did not feel able to ask members and supporters struggling on the front lines as essential workers and at home in their bubbles to again put in huge efforts to support me.
As more senior figures resign, the front they can hide behind is getting smaller. And if people continue to push to make NZNO genuinely membership-driven and bicultural through a new Constitution, as I suggest in my latest blog, then the “shadowy forces” will become known through their resistance to this change.
8. You have been transparent and answered questions on social media, by email and by phone for NZNO members and other nurses who required clarification and context for the recent events surrounding NZNO. Why do you believe the remaining board members and NZNO management have not also been forthcoming to the satisfaction of the membership?
Connecting with members was my favourite part of my role as NZNO President. Knowledge is power, and if I could help to empower members by answering questions on social media, then I considered I was doing the job I was elected to do.
The previous Board viewed things very differently. As they stated in the document they provided to members on 22 August 2019, ahead of the first Special General Meeting, they believed that continuing to operate the “Grant Brookes, NZNO President” Facebook page constituted misconduct. It was one of the grounds they gave for why I should be removed from office at that SGM.
I can’t answer for the actions, or inactions of the remaining board members and NZNO management, but I do note that a majority of the people in these positions were also involved in last year’s SGM.
9. It appears from public social media posts that Te Rūnanga is encouraging their members to see this situation as a racial divide and to engage tauiwi NZNO members in an aggressive way. What are your thoughts?
I think it’s important to distinguish Te Rūnanga o Aotearoa NZNO, made up of almost 4,000 Māori members of NZNO, from the behaviour of a few prominent individuals who are tragically undermining our bicultural partnership.
10. A large group of both board members and NZNO staff have left the organisation over the last two years, citing bullying as their reason. Who are the people responsible for this bullying, and how do they remain in these positions despite their behaviour?
I can’t comment on the circumstances surrounding the departure of other Board members or NZNO staff, sorry.
11. The NZNO has been paying the president and Kaiwhakahaere for their work, which is unusual in a union structure. What was the rationale for this, and how is it influencing the current issues with dysfunction?
The creation of paid roles for the President and Kaiwhakahaere one of the changes which came with the NZNO Constitution, adopted in 2012. However, the initial proposal to create paid positions goes back as far as 1996, when the NZNO Annual Conference passed a remit calling for a review of the support needs of the President and requested a paper outlining advantages and disadvantages of having a full-time paid President.
The idea resurfaced at conferences and in reports every couple of years thereafter. This is all well before my time, so I don’t know the rationale, sorry.
Personally, I was sceptical about the creation of paid roles as the Constitution was being developed in 2010-12, as it brings with it a risk that elected leaders start to see their goal as remaining in office rather than serving their members. But I am now satisfied that limiting the length of time leaders are able to stay in their position can help to mitigate against this risk.
By the way, the idea of a paid President is not unusual in union structures. Most similar unions in New Zealand have it – and also set term limits for their elected leadership. I don’t think paying the NZNO President and Kaiwhakahaere for their work is a major factor in the current issues with dysfunction.
12. How can NZNO members call for a review of the Constitution?
As reported in the February issue of Kai Tiaki, the Board agreed in December to my proposal for a review of the Constitution. The terms of reference for this review are supposed to be provided to members when the 2020 AGM documents come out, in July. If the Board reneges on its decision, then getting a proper review will probably the require replacement of the Board.
13. How can NZNO members make a vote of no confidence in the BOD and have them removed?
Watch this space.
14. How can NZNO members force a forensic review of processes and financial accountability of the board and NZNO as a whole?
I am not clear what this question is asking, sorry. NZNO’s financial statements are audited annually. Since 2016, this has been conducted by Deloitte New Zealand. The independent auditor’s report is contained in the NZNO Annual Report, which is posted on the NZNO website.
15. The three BOD members who resigned several days ago have still not received formal recognition of their resignations from NZNO, therefore members do not yet know if these have been accepted. How indicative of normal NZNO processes is this?
Nothing about NZNO governance is normal at the moment.
16. There have been several expensive overseas trips made by the Kaiwhakahaere recently, which NZNO members paid for. What did these trips achieve for each individual fee-paying member of NZNO?
With rare exceptions, NZNO achievements generally accrue through ongoing activity over time. So it can be hard to point to a single action or event which led to them. But I do believe for example that pay parity for nurses working in Māori Health Providers, who typically earn less than their DHB counterparts, has been brought closer through the Kaiwhakahaere’s advocacy at the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York.
I should also disclose my own interest in this matter. On some of the overseas trips, I went with the Kaiwhakahaere.
I would like to highlight one achievement connected with our international engagement through Global Nurses United (where two of the three trips so far were heavily subsidised by the host nursing union, by the way). Partly because of the engagement with GNU members like the New South Wales Nurses and Midwives’ Association and National Nurses United in America, all fee-paying members will this year be able to vote on reviewing NZNO’s safe staffing strategies, including CCDM, and get a chance to support nurse:patient ratios.
17. The Kaiwhakahaere has engaged in public posts on Facebook with fellow members of Te Rūnanga, suggesting that tauiwi need to be “overthrown”, “taken out”, are “unable to lead”, “ineffective for Māori health”, “lacking in mana”, etc, all of which is insulting and unprofessional to both tauiwi and Māori. Bearing in mind that you were effectively fired for a single text message, why has the Kaiwhakahaere not even been formally censured by NZNO for such behaviour?
What? I have not seen these comments. I would need more information in order to respond.
18. The three BOD members who resigned state they were asked to sign confidentiality agreements. Why was this?
A new letter of appointment, to be signed by all NZNO Board members and containing a confidentiality clause, was introduced in October 2017. A motion was passed, “That the Board draft a letter of appointment for all Board members to sign as soon as practicable. This may need input from lawyers.”
The rationale, as recorded in the Board meeting minutes, is that this was “best practice on the basis of information from the IoD [Institute of Directors]”. I am sorry to say that I didn’t know any better at that time, and went along with it.
19. What was their reasoning for leaving so soon after you?
I cannot speak for the three BOD members who resigned after me.
20. How will the board now get new members and a new President and Vice-President?
The normal process for electing Board members, including the President and Vice-President, is contained in Schedule Three of the NZNO Constitution. Other processes are under discussion, but there is no information available on those at the moment.
21. How has all of this impacted on the wider issues of MECA negotiations and COVID-19 support?
One NZNO staff member told me last week that the turmoil in the Board is “impacting on everything we do”. Despite this, NZNO delegates and staff are continuing to support members on the front line in the COVID-19 pandemic and in preparations for successful DHB MECA bargaining.
22. What improvements had been made by NZNO to employment policies following membership dissatisfaction with the undertaking of legal action against you?
No changes have been made.
23. Members have been leaving NZNO to sign with other unions. What is needed for nurses who have opted to remain, despite their dissatisfaction, to regain control of NZNO?
I’ve talked in broad terms in my latest blog about what’s needed for us, as members, to take back NZNO. Our fight to make NZNO genuinely membership-driven and bicultural, through a new Constitution, will also be a battle to dislodge entrenched interests. I am aware of groups developing more concrete plans for action. Please see the answer above, for question 13.
24. A bullying culture seems to have developed and blossomed unchecked in the NZNO ranks. How can this be stopped?
The culture of an organisation is set from the top. In my opinion, the best way to rectify NZNO’s culture is to change the Board.
25. The dysfunction within NZNO has been played out in the media. How can nurses salvage their reputations after this?
I know how hard it is to maintain ethical conduct in an unethical environment. But ultimately, this is what we have to do.
26. How can nurses organise themselves to maintain a strong cohesive stance against future unacceptable DHB wage and conditions packages – given the current state of the union?
I have stated publicly my belief that NZNO is a much more membership-driven organisation today. One of the ways this is true is in the approach to the 2020 DHB MECA bargaining. The current state of the union will sadly affect our cohesion, but there is a lot we can do to maintain our collective strength. I don’t follow gurus, because we have to make our future ourselves. But there are some good tips about how we can organise in these short videos from US author Jane McAlevey.
27. What advice do you have for nurses who are hurt and angry at the actions of NZNO?
I have a written a blog, addressing directly the many NZNO members who feel let down by NZNO and asked for my thoughts on their options. I hope the advice is helpful to some people.
28. How feasible is it to remove the Kaiwhakahaere from the NZNO board, and for Te Rūnanga to be run within NZNO as a self-contained entity (like a Maori Health Provider under DHB or PHO purview)? Maori can then have their own president, kaupapa and be responsible for their own financial decisions. Then all members of all sections could decide which section they wish to be signed with, and there need not be further powerplays.
A union is based on the belief that we’re stronger together. Achieving genuine bicultural partnership will enrich us all.
29. How has all this impacted on you and your family?
My situation is not unique. Other people survive years of bullying at work. Some also go through long, drawn-out legal battles. Those people will understand the kind of impact this had on me and my family over the last two years.
There is one memory though which springs to mind. In 2018 the Board repeatedly refused to attend mediation to try and resolve the escalating tensions, until finally they were ordered to attend by the Employment Relations Authority.
On 17 December 2018, just before Christmas, we met together with a mediator. As well as my lawyer, my partner and our nine year-old and twelve year-old came with me for support. I opened with a karakia, then a kōrero in Te Reo Māori and English, about the need to whai utu/restore balance in our relationship through this mediation.
At the end of this opening, my partner and children stood up to support me with a waiata tautoko. It was “E tū, kahikatea”. As the Board’s bicultural representatives sat expressionless across the table, like they were made of stone, my family made it to the end of the song and dissolved into tears.
It is a very hard thing to bear, when cruelty makes your children cry.
30. Do you have any plans to return to unionism in the future? If so what?
My heart has always been with members at the coal face – the place where real nursing happens and where camaraderie and common purpose exist. I am happy and proud that now I can follow my heart and return.
I start my new job on the ward in a week, where I will join the PSA as well and remain an active member in both unions. I have no plans at the moment to return to a formal union role (paid or unpaid). But I never say never.
Yesterday, we, Anne, Katrina and Sela, resigned from the board of directors Toputanga Taphuhi Kaitiaki O Aotearoa New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO). We felt left with no other option as the values we campaigned on, Transparency, Unity, and Action, and our personal and professional values were constantly compromised. To remain would be condoning behaviour we know does not meet the members standards.
We believe NZNO and the board should be a safe place to be. However right from the start, we were required to sign a confidentiality agreement before our first meeting. We understand now that this was a relatively new requirement for the board.
Unfortunately, unresolved issues, not of our making, and the continuation of these issues, hampered our ability to focus on the members. With the recent resignation of both the President and the Vice President we urge all members to ask questions and demand answers. This is, after all, our union.
We will continue to work for nurses and nursing in different ways, as colleagues, delegates and activists.
Anne, Katrina and Sela.”
Additional information: This group comprised the three top polling candidates in the last NZNO election.
We were marching forward together on International Nurses Day 2018. Where to now for nurses?
As most readers of this blog will already know, I’ve resigned as NZNO President. I am returning to nursing at the coal face. Since announcing my resignation four days ago, I’ve been contacted by many NZNO members who feel let down by NZNO and asked for my thoughts on their options.
As nurses, we all have leadership responsibilities – in advocating for our patients and the health of our communities, for example, or in maintaining public trust and confidence in our profession. Our leadership responsibilities don’t end just because we don’t have a formal title.
For the last four and a half years, I have led NZNO. I’m not someone to suddenly walk away from my responsibilities. So to the many NZNO members who asked and anyone else who may be interested, I offer these thoughts.
Which professional organisation? Which union?
I believe nurses need to come together. We need to join organisations, so that our collective voice is strong enough to achieve our professional aspirations and to uphold our rights to fairness at work. Joining together like this, for me, is an expression of solidarity.
In our current union and professional association, NZNO, there are so many good people, doing good work. NZNO has some amazing organisers, educators, advocates, professional nurse advisors and volunteers in our Colleges and Sections. They have fantastic call advisors just a phone call away, and of course hundreds of amazing workplace delegates who keep the union thriving in your workplaces. Every day, these great people dedicate themselves to supporting the fee-paying members of NZNO.
But as well as supporting members, NZNO chooses to do other things that are squarely against the interests the membership. Some members will have their own experiences. Mine was a particularly brutal and quarter million-dollar personalised legal pursuit.
For me, it makes no sense at all to keep paying $46.10 a month to help fund this kind of activity.
As a Mental Health Nurse in Wellington, I am fortunate. There’s another union I can join – one with bonds of solidarity to the wider union movement through the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi, and which is big and powerful enough to negotiate nationwide collective agreements and effectively advocate for a better working life for its members.
So, like many of the Mental Health Nurses and HCAs at my new job, I have decided to switch to the New Zealand Public Service Association – Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi. The legal window for changing onto the PSA MECA opens at the start of June, 60 days before the expiry of the NZNO MECA. I hope more DHB colleagues will join us in our new union home. Together we are stronger.
But at the same time, I know that other nurses are not so fortunate. And because solidarity means not just looking after yourself, but standing together for the benefit of all, I will be staying with NZNO as well.
NZNO allows dual union membership, offering a reduced fee of $17.60 a month for any member of another union affiliated to CTU. Taking up this offer means I can avoid paying big money to fund wasteful or destructive activity. Yet I’ll still be able to participate collectively in my professional organisation, the Mental Health Nurses Section, get indemnity insurance and receive the real New Zealand nursing story monthly in Kai Tiaki.
And it will mean I can continue fighting alongside you, as best I can in my new full-time job, to take back our union for the members. I know not all of you will want to do this. I won’t judge any nurse for the choice they make. But if you want to stay and be part of this project, you can connect with me on social media or via email.
In broad terms, our fight is to make NZNO genuinely membership-driven and bicultural.
The starting point is a complete overhaul of NZNO’s broken democratic structures. You may have seen some recent claims about NZNO’s democracy and transparency. But sadly, claims of being democratic and transparent don’t stand up.
Take a look at the system of voting for hugely important decisions, like removing an elected President. If one looks closely, and a few at the top are hoping you don’t, you can see a system that’s actively anti-democratic and shrouded in secrecy.
Here’s a quick overview:
The NZNO Constitution allows “representatives” to vote on behalf of members. These representatives get the number of votes equal to the number of members in the group they’re representing.1 This means you can have one rep casting the vote for 15,000 members.
The largest five membership groups comprise over half of the membership, meaning just five representatives could make a “majority” decision for all of NZNO.
Yet, there is no requirement for the “representatives” to consult or follow the wishes of the membership they’re voting on behalf of, and no way for members to know how their representatives even voted on their behalf, because it’s “secret”.2
And the kicker? Eleven of these reps, who wield two thirds of the membership vote, aren’t even elected by their members.3
As you can imagine, an unelected handful casting a secret votes is an open invitation to corruption. It’s also a pretty rotten system that so few can make a decision that’s paraded around as a democratic decision of themembership. There is a lot more still to come out about how this system produced the results of last year’s SGMs.
Hopefully you can understand why I pushed, as President, for a review of NZNO’s Constitution and membership structures. I did it at NZNO Regional Conventions. I did it in Kai Tiaki – more than once. And I did it at the Board table.
It wasn’t for me to say what should be done about Ngā Ture, the rules of Te Rūnanga. That has to be done by members of Te Rūnanga themselves.
A Constitutional review was finally agreed by the Board last December. The terms of reference for this review were to be presented at this year’s NZNO AGM. Not that I expect this will happen now.
If a review does eventually go ahead, it will be directed by entrenched interests that created the Constitution and defend it to this day. So our fight to make NZNO membership-driven and bicultural, through a new Constitution, will also be a battle to dislodge those entrenched interests.
What about biculturalism?
I believe that for NZNO to succeed in genuinely belonging to members, both the democratic structures and the practice of partnership need to be genuine.
Genuine partnership under Te Tiriti o Waitangi is one which expresses the ideals of reciprocity and of mutual benefit, where we act reasonably, honourably, and in good faith. Members need this genuine partnership to be rooted in living relationships at the base of our organisation, not just in remote figureheads and fine words on paper. And both parties to the relationship, NZNO and Te Rūnanga o Aotearoa NZNO, must be driven by members from the bottom up, not controlled from the top down.
Achieving this won’t be easy, and it won’t be quick. But for me, this is where those of us staying with NZNO need to go.
We’ve made a start already. NZNO today is a more membership-driven organisation. We have more tools at our disposal. Let’s join together and finish the job. I know we can do it – because we are many, and they are few.
Footnotes
1Under Section 30 of the NZNO Constitution, decisions at an Annual General Meeting or Special General Meeting are not made by individual members, but by “representatives” who vote on their behalf.
2 Since 2014 voting at AGMs and SGMs has been done electronically and in secret. So members never find out how their “representative” voted.
3Some NZNO member groups, like Colleges and Sections, have autonomy to develop their own internal processes. But for the eleven NZNO Regional Councils, whose rules are set by Schedule Seven of the Constitution, the “representatives” who wield two thirds of the membership vote at an SGM aren’t elected by the members they represent
Grant Brookes | Nurse & Trade Unionist 
