Vic nurses reject state government’s latest pay offer

Victorian nurses and midwives have voted down the state government’s “disappointing” pay offer in a dramatic vote, with their industrial action now in “uncharted territory”.

Victorian nurses and midwives have rejected the government’s latest pay offer in a dramatic vote, just days after pausing hospital bed shutdowns to hear the deal.

Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation Victorian branch secretary Lisa Fitzpatrick said the deal – offered after the union shut down 800 beds – included new and improved allowances and was well above the previous 3 per cent per annum offer.

But members rejected the offer in a surprise outcome – with Ms Fitzpatrick telling media she did not know if stage two measures, such as bed shutdowns and elective surgery cancellations, would return.

The new deal would have seen nurses pay increase between 18 and 23 per cent over four years.

But the union was unable to say an exact figure – as pending Fair Work decisions could impact some pay rates and allowances such as for aged care workers.

This uncertainty appeared to be a sticking point for members, with one nurse – Tara – telling the Herald Sun she was disappointed by the offer.

She said she felt nervous as they were now entering uncharted territory but a lot of people were unhappy with the percentage wage increase.

“The extra allowances were good, so I’m happy with those,” she said.

“It was more the overall wage increase that was confusing because of adding this aged care (issue).

“I’m not quite sure what the overall (increase) is, and I think that’s what people were unhappy about.

“We’re only going to get four and a half (per annum).

“The quote going around from a lot of people was that it felt like smoke and mirrors.”

Nurses have rejected a new pay offer from the state government. Picture: Brad Fleet

Hillary, a graduate nurse, said the reactions of senior nurses at the meeting put the issue into perspective.

“To hear them, to hear their frustration in their voice about the issues and how long they’ve been fighting for just really puts it into perspective for us how important it is to fight for fair wages,” she said.

Czarinna, who has been a nurse for three years, said she had been on the fence initially, but the reaction of the room throughout the meeting showed her that the deal fell short.

“It’s still not fair, for the amount of work we do, it does not correlate to what’s proposed,” she said.

“The more I heard of it, the more we just started to say look, it’s still not that fair.

“For the amount of work we do, it does not correlate to what’s proposed.”

Ms Fitzpatrick said the room seemed excited about some of the new allowances they won, but that “wasn’t enough to get agreement” and her focus was now on going back to the table to negotiate with the government.

“I think we’ve been given our orders in relation to what needs to happen,” she said.

It was not immediately clear what Monday’s vote will mean for protected action moving forward.

Hospital bed closures and surgery cancellations could return, with the union confirming in a statement late on Monday that stage two measures remained suspended for now, but “this could change”.

Stage one measures – which were not called off when the union struck an agreement on Friday to suspend the more severe of their industrial actions on Friday – will continue.

ANMF Victorian branch secretary Lisa Fitzpatrick said there was significant support for the majority of improvements on the table but the uncertainty caused by a pending Fair Work Commission case on aged care work value saw members reject the offer.

“The members want their pay rates over the life of the agreement in black and white,” she said.

A Victorian government spokeswoman said they hope a “resolution will be reached as soon as possible”.

“We will always back our nurses and midwives and the extraordinary work they do to provide Victorians with world-class care,” she said.