The $50 Million Stand: Four Unions, One Voice
- Sep 30
- 4 min read
Teachers, nurses, carers, public servants: standing together, sacrificing together.
by Rebecca Thomas
On 23 October, four unions will stand together — teachers, nurses, carers, and public service workers.
For a single day, frontline people are prepared to give up around $50 million of their own pay.
(This estimate comes from tens of thousands of teachers, nurses, and allied health workers all downing tools for one day — the rough scale of docked wages across those groups.)
In the public sector, when you strike those wages are gone.
There is no pay back.
No bonus down the track.
Unlike in the private sector, we cannot bargain one-on-one with an employer. Our pay is locked by government settings, and when those settings fall below inflation, it means a pay cut in real terms.
Below-Inflation Pay = A Pay Cut
When government offers “pay rises” that don’t keep up with inflation, it isn’t generosity — it’s a pay cut in real terms. Your money buys less. Your bills climb higher.
In the private sector, if an employer tried that, staff would walk. Competitors would snap them up. Market pressure would force wages up.
But in the public sector, we don’t have that choice. There is no “other” Ministry of Education. No competing public hospital. There is only one employer — the government.
So when they offer less than inflation, it’s not restraint. It’s power. They hold the monopoly, and they’re using it to push down the very people holding the nation up.
That’s why $50 million in docked wages matters. It’s not greed. It’s proof we’re willing to take a hit, just to be heard.
A symbol of frustration.
A sacrifice of wages that shows the depth of need.
And this is why the Beehive and the boardrooms should be paying attention.
Policy makers shine only because the people keep the lights on.
Without teachers, nurses, and carers, they have nothing to stand on.
Their brilliance is borrowed — and right now, it is burning out the very people who make it possible.
There Is More the Government Can Do
The problem isn’t that Aotearoa is “out of money.” The problem is where that wealth sits.
In simple terms: When the wealthiest households and corporations pay more tax, the government has more revenue to fund schools, hospitals, and care services. That money flows straight back into the economy: teachers and nurses spend locally, hospitals buy from NZ companies, carers support whānau who then participate more fully in society.
Economists call this the multiplier effect — every public dollar creates more than a dollar’s worth of activity.
By contrast, money locked away in property portfolios, tax shelters, or offshore accounts doesn’t circulate. It grows wealth for a few, but does little for the many.
Meanwhile, MPs with property empires — from Carl Bates and his undeclared 25 properties, to names like Gerry Brownlee, Mark Patterson, Jo Luxton, Damien O’Connor, and Ayesha Verrall — remind us where much of the wealth sits.
And instead of taxing where the money is, governments often pour billions into things that are not people: new motorways like Transmission Gully; mega-projects like Auckland Light Rail; yacht races and film subsidies.
These may look impressive in headlines, but they don’t heal a patient waiting in pain, they don’t ease a teacher’s load, and they don’t help a carer feed an elder with dignity.
It’s not that the government can’t afford to fix health and education — it’s that they’re choosing not to.
Why Don’t They Do It?
If the economics are so clear, why won’t governments act?
Political fear: Raising taxes on the wealthy is branded “anti-business.” Leaders fear backlash from donors, lobby groups, and friendly media.
Short election cycles: The benefits of fair taxation take years to show. Politicians chase quick wins, not generational investment.
Narrative control: It is easier to cry “tight budgets” than admit choices are being made — choices that protect the wealthy instead of protecting the people.
What the Public Can Do
This moment isn’t only for unions. It’s a call to the nation.
Stand with us, not against us.
See the sacrifice for what it is: a $50 million act of care, not greed.
Add your voice: show up at rallies, share our stories, write to MPs.
Remember who this is for: every child in a crowded classroom, every patient waiting in an understaffed ward, every whānau relying on carers who give more than they’re paid for.
If government refuses to change course — if it keeps clinging to austerity while refusing to tax the wealthy — the fallout is clear:
More burnt-out workers walking away.
Longer hospital waits, disrupted learning, broken care.
An economy weakened not by strikes, but by a workforce too exhausted to sustain it.
Short-term GDP losses from a strike are tiny compared to the long-term drag of ignoring the crisis. Rebuilding trust and staffing after collapse always costs more than resourcing properly now.
This is not about greed. It is about need.
On 23 October, four unions will stand together.
But this is not just their fight.
It is a message to every New Zealander:
Stand with those who stand for you.
Fifty million dollars docked. Fifty million reasons to finally listen.
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