From nurses to teachers, tens of thousands of workers have walked off the job today in a coordinated "mega-strike" across New Zealand.
Thousands marched down Auckland's Queen St with other rallies across the North Island, but with red weather warnings curtailing events in Wellington and the South Island.
The industrial action includes teachers, doctors, health workers, and other public sector workers who are demanding better pay and improved working conditions.
'Mega-strike' halts services as nurses, teachers, doctors join huge walkout - watch on TVNZ+
Anaesthetist Ted Hughes and art teacher Paul Stevens spoke to Breakfast about today’s strike. (Source: Breakfast)
The main unions taking part in the strike are the Primary Teachers Association, the Public Service Association, the Nurses Organisation, the Post Primary Teachers Association, NZEI Te Riu Roa and the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, also known as ASMS.
Many schools are closed, and non-emergency medical procedures have been delayed.
Public Service Minister Judith Collins has labelled the planned action as “politically motivated” and insisted the Government had acted in good faith in negotiations.
Strikers return to work at Nelson Hospital
At Nelson Hospital, striking health workers were recalled back to work after a power disruption earlier this morning.
"We have a crisis management protocol that we've been working on with the hospital for the last three weeks, PSA organiser Toby Beesley said.
Public services workers across health, education and other sectors protest over pay and conditions. (Source: 1News)
"That's part of the strike action. They asked us for more staff, and we immediately agreed to that. Our first priority is the safety of the community."
Health NZ executive regional director Pete Watson said: "A backup battery kept critical systems running during the outage, and no patients were impacted. I want to acknowledge the efforts of staff who worked to keep patients safe during this time."
Beesley said the backup battery powered some parts of the hospital, such as emergency lighting, but that other functions were heavily disrupted.
He said that the period lasted for 45 minutes.
Protests and rallies are taking place across much of the North Island despite cancelled outdoor action in Wellington and Christchurch.
Thousands march down Auckland's Queen St
In Auckland, thousands of protesters marched down Queen St from Aotea Square towards the downtown area. Earlier today, Auckland Transport warned of delays and possible cancellations to the city centre roading network and some bus services.
Union members and strike supporters present spoke to 1News.
Professional Firefighters Union national vice president Martin Campbell said firefighters showed up to support health workers and educators striking.
"We've come down in solidarity with all the other unions that are striking today to show support from firefighters, emergency dispatchers, risk reduction and trainers from Fire and Emergency," he said.
"We believe it's a public service crisis at the moment. The Government is ignoring a lot of problems in the country. Just as Fire and Emergency is in a dire emergency. I think our public services are in a dire emergency."
The principal of West Auckland's Laingholm Primary School Martyn Weatherill said today's marches were about "coming together as a group of public servants to give a very, very clear message to the Government:
"You have asked us to do an incredibly important job. Now give us the resources that we need to do that job," he said.
"We know you will frame it all about money. I very much doubt anybody in this square today entered their profession to get rich.
"We are in these professions because we care about people. This is about people. It is not about money. Teachers and principals are here for their students. Nurses are here for their patients. The firefighters are here for everybody. That is why we are here today."
An indoor rally held in Dunedin
Some indoor rallies still took place in South Island centres such as Dunedin, which have fewer severe weather alerts. 1News asked attendees why they came out.
"It comes to a point where you've got to take a stand like this ... It hasn't been just on a whim. It's been going on for a long time. The Government's forced them to do it. They forced their hand. What else are they to do?" one strike supporter said.
An educator attending the rally said she thought it was important to strike for "the generations that are coming through" the education system.
"The frustration is that we do not have the resources that we need," she said.
"We have more neurodiverse children coming into our classrooms, and we have very, very limited resources. We have less agencies that we can contact. It would be amazing to have more teacher aides, learning support, people there to support us".
Another attendee called ministerial strike criticism in recent weeks "typical political talk".
What is the Government doing in response to strike?
Government ministers have gone on the offensive over the mega strike in the past week.
Collins, the Public Service Minister, argued that the Government needed to manage its finances responsibly amid tight budgets and growing demands.
Health Minister Simeon Brown labelled strike action by medical professionals as “crossing an ethical line”, and suggested doctors were hurting patients.
Public Service Commissioner Sir Brian Roche has also been adamant publicly that the strikes were unwarranted and unjustified.
“I regret that outcome for New Zealanders, especially as I thought progress could have been made on bargaining – disappointingly, the unions didn’t see it that way,” he said.
“As we navigate our way through this, I am also reflecting on what, if anything, we can learn from the private sector. There haven’t been major strikes, and most settlements have been at lower rates than what’s currently on offer in the public sector."
He urged the unions to “come back to the table” to “negotiate a reasonable solution”.
Health Minister Simeon Brown and Education Minister Erica Stanford speak to Breakfast about today’s strikes. (Source: Breakfast)
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