Tauranga Hospital remains open, but Te Whatu Ora Health NZ has said non-emergency cases may face delays and some planned procedures and appointments are postponed.

Public Service Minister Judith Collins has released an open letter to people impacted by the strikes and said the actions appeared to be “politically motivated by the unions”.

She said the Government had acted in good faith and met unions’ demands for pay increases in line with inflation.

“This industrial action is unfair and unwarranted.”

While extreme weather in other parts of the country has disrupted strike plans, Tauranga has an overcast day with the few spots of rain already clearing.

Supporters in the crowd include children, members of other unions and strikers’ colleagues.

Tauranga strike organiser Andrea Andresen of union NZEI Te Riu Roa told SunLive at Memorial Park that all of the unions contributed to arranging the strike, and even unions not on strike today, such as firefighters, were there in support.

Tauranga strike organiser Andrea Andresen of the NZEI Te Riu Roa union. Photo / Brydie Thompson

“People feel strongly about it.”

She said they aimed to make it family-friendly so people could bring their children, with most schools closed.

Bethlehem Primary School student Cassie Seaward, holding a whiteboard with a short but pointed poem for the Government, said this strike was not her first rodeo.

“My mum works at my school and I come along with her,” said the 11-year-old.

Cassie Seaward, 11, displays a poetic message for the Government at the strike. Photo / Brydie Thompson

“We’re standing up for teachers to get their pay rise.”

People have come from far and wide in Tauranga and the surrounding Western Bay of Plenty, including Kaimai, Ōmokoroa, Te Puke and Te Puna.

Te Puna School principal Neil Towersey said the strike was a pushback against the Government, which had failed to carry the sector with them in decision-making.

Principals Neil Towersey, of Te Puna school, and Sandra Portegys, of Ōmokoroa Point School, at the strike. Photo / Brydie Thompson

“Many of the initiatives that have been rolled out without consulting with the sector have proven to be flops, and they’re scratching their heads wondering why.”

“I’d rather be at kura”, “The Last Straw” and “This Sucks!” are among signs held by strikers from Te Puke.

Te Puke teachers gather in central Te Puke ahead of today's mega strike.

Heidi Tidmarsh said she was striking as a mother, a user of the healthcare system, and a former school student.

“This affects everybody everywhere right across the country.”

Registered nurse and New Zealand Nurses Organisation delegate Helena Joyce told the crowd that unions standing together showed something was “deeply wrong”.

“We are not the problem, we are the warning sign.”

Registered nurses Sonia Anderson and Jini Brobin display their sign at the mega-strike in Memorial Park, Tauranga. Photo / Brydie Thompson

She said they wanted a health system that valued people over politics, keeping staff safe and supported - and in New Zealand.

“Because safe staffing saves lives, and fair pay keeps the people here that save lives.”

Learning support worker Shane Swales said the strike was about coming together to “voice huge concerns for children”.

“Our job is to keep kids in school with whatever needs they have …we don’t have enough support."

Tauranga Boys’ teacher and PPTA union representative Michelle Stanley said the strike was about what was fair.

Oscar Stanley, 6, with Tauranga Boys' College teacher Michelle Stanley and Willow Stanley, 8, at the strike in Memorial Park, Tauranga. Photo / Brydie Thompson

“We want to make teaching a first-choice career. We want to attract local specialist trained teachers.”

She said baby boomers retiring put a strain on the teaching workforce. She believed there were too few replacements to avoid a “massive shortage, with school rolls growing”.

“We need to highlight these issues before they become a really big problem.”

Stanley’s daughter, Willow Stanley, from Kaimai School, said she was there to get “lots of toots” for her teachers.

The strike event at Tauranga’s Memorial Park runs from 11am to 1pm, with speeches and sign-waving.

Striking education workers also plan to form a human wall along the edge of Memorial Park up 11th Ave to Cameron Rd.

Who is on strike

Striking members of the following unions are participating in the Tauranga event:

• Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi;
• New Zealand Nurses Organisation Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaikiaki o Aotearoa;
• New Zealand Education Institute Te Riu Roa;
• Post Primary Teachers Association Te Wehengarua.

The strike is anticipated to be New Zealand’s biggest labour action in about 40 years, with up to 100,000 people involved nationally.

What the Government says

Collins has written an open letter to patients, students and families affected by the strike.

“The Government regrets the impact on you, your children and your families that is expected on Thursday because of a strike planned by a number of unions.

“We regret even more that the strike appears to be politically motivated by the unions. What else could possibly explain that in early October, when we were trying to negotiate with the secondary teachers’ union, the number one item on their agenda for a meeting with Education Minister Erica Stanford was Palestine,” Collins wrote.

Public Service Minister Judith Collins. Photo / VNP

“Palestine. Not terms and conditions. Not student achievement. Not the new curriculum. Palestine. That’s not what students or parents should expect.”

The Government valued “all public sector employees” but had a responsibility to manage the country’s finances carefully, especially when “money is tight”, she said.

“It is only unions who want strikes. We ask, once again, for them to come to the table. That is the place to talk and to bargain.”

Fight for all Kiwis, says union council

NZ Council of Trade Unions president Richard Wagstaff said the strike action was in response to a centralised Government strategy to hold down wages below inflation and to cut resources to the public service.

“And they’ve given them no proper response to the resource issues - the short staffing, the breaking down of equipment and so on.”

Wagstaff said the Government knew that “cutting wages and by basically having people overworked and underpaid” risked the workforce dissipating and leaving for “better” places such as Australia.

Wagstaff said it was unfair and “quite infuriating” for workers, given that the Government has said it would address the cost-of-living crisis.

“And here they are telling their own workers - their essential workers who keep everything running - that they should expect a pay cut.”

Wagstaff called on ordinary members of the public to strike with workers to show their support.

He said they were fighting not just for themselves, but for all Kiwis.