Nurses at Wollongong Day Surgery will stop work for four hours today, following a breakdown in talks over safe staffing ratios and fair pay with their employer.
The NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association (NSWNMA) successfully applied to the Fair Work Commission last month for a protected action ballot after bargaining stalled on a new enterprise agreement with Healthe Care.
NSWNMA General Secretary, Shaye Candish, said a majority of members at multiple Healthe Care facilities across the state, including Wollongong Day Surgery, recently voted for a range of protected actions to highlight their unsafe staffing and workload concerns.
“The stop work meeting at Wollongong Day Surgery is one of the first protected actions to highlight how frustrated our members feel about Healthe Care ignoring these ongoing staffing issues,” said Ms Candish.
“Our members are seeking sensible improvements to their enterprise agreement including shift by shift nursing and midwifery ratios to ensure safe patient care, and a fair pay offer reflecting rising costs of living.”
Negotiations for a new enterprise agreement commenced back in December 2021. A proposed agreement by Healthe Care, including a 2.5% pay offer per year over four years, was rejected in December 2022.
To date, Healthe Care has refused to negotiate on staffing ratios and this week put a revised offer to a vote, which includes just 1.75% more in total pay rises across the life of the agreement.
NSWNMA Assistant General Secretary, Michael Whaites, said too many nurses were experiencing growing exhaustion, burnout, and psychological injury at work.
Image: https://nara.getarchive.net/media/a-group-of-certified-nurses-speak-with-a-patient-at-72cbd6 (public domain image – for illustration only)
