Mater nurses snubbed in reward for ‘enormous efforts’ during Covid

Shift working Mater nurses toiled night and day say hospitals have pulled a Scrooge move by excluding them from a day off reward being offered to other staff for dedication during Covid.

Shift working nurses who toiled night and day on the pandemic frontline at the state’s Mater hospitals are “dumbfounded” they will not get the extra holiday day given to staff for working hard over Covid.

In what has been labelled a Scrooge move by the nurses, Mater chief executive Peter Steer sent an email to staff announcing a concessional day off on December 28 for their dedicated service throughout the year, with the exception of shift workers who already have extra annual leave under their award.

The Queensland Nurses and Midwives Union secretary Beth Mohle said she is concerned that the snub would impact the morale of hard working nurses and reports that union members have found the decision to be “mean spirited’.

“Additional annual leave is provided in part to compensate for the detrimental health and social impacts experienced by workers required to work 24/7, seven days a week. We ask why the Mater would exempt shift workers from this “special arrangement” as they too have provided dedicated service on every shift throughout the year?” Ms Mohle said.

Queensland Nurses and Midwives' Union (QNMU) Secretary Beth Mohle. Picture: Contributed

One shift working nurse who wanted to remain anonymous told The Courier-Mail that her colleagues were disappointed by the exclusion.

“We are the actual ones looking after the Covid patients – getting infected at times. We are working double shifts, extra shifts, overtime and taking the virus into our own homes. We are just dumbfounded,” she said.

A Mater spokesman said that the Mater’s annual concessional day is not a formal day of thanks for work performed during the pandemic and is a longstanding Mater practice.

“Mater is grateful for the outstanding commitment to patient care our employees demonstrate each day,” he said.

“The granting of a concessional day is a long-standing practice at Mater’s South-East Queensland hospitals.

“The concessional day is not available to shift workers who, under their agreement, receive six weeks’ leave per annum and work in areas that remain operational during the Christmas period.

“This entitlement is contained, along with eligibility criteria, within our Enterprise Agreements.

“Nurses who are not shift workers receive five weeks’ leave per annum and are eligible for the concessional day.”

But in his email to staff last month Dr Steer states: “This year will be the first time that a concessional day has been granted at Christmas to employees at every Mater facility in Queensland. It is a small recognition of the enormous efforts our staff have made in dealing with the impact of Covid-19 over the past 12 months.”

The Mater hospital in Brisbane.

The QNMU reports that non-shift working nurses and midwives employed under the existing Mater Southeast Queensland Enterprise Bargaining Agreement (EBA) receive a “concessional day” linked to Christmas public holidays. This agreement was put in place in 2018.

“We are advised Mater Hospital management recently offered this concessional day to non-shift working nurses and midwives in Central Queensland and North Queensland who do not currently have this agreement in their EBAs. Each region has their own EBA which is voted in at ballot. Under the Southeast Qld Mater EBA agreement, nurses and midwives who do not perform shift work receive five weeks’ annual paid leave and a concessional day each year between festive season public holidays,” Ms Mohle said.

Also stated in this agreement, Mater nurses in Southeast Queensland who perform shift work receive six weeks’ annual paid leave do not receive the concessional day linked to Christmas public holidays.