Hospital bed closures still on the table in wage fight
The nurses’ union says hospital bed closures and surgery cancellations are still a possibility as the government’s wage negotiations continue to drag on.
Victoria
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The nurses’ union says hospital bed closures and surgery cancellations are still on the table as wage negotiations enter their eight month.
The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation Victorian branch has geared up for the EBA dispute to continue, applying to extend their deadline to begin certain protected actions.
Members rejected the hospital’s latest offer – made within hours of nurses shutting 800 beds and recommended by the union – in a shock vote last month, sending their representatives back to the negotiating table.
A union spokeswoman confirmed on Monday public hospitals’ representatives and the union were yet to reach a new deal – leaving harsher, stage two measures on the table.
The stage two measures – which the union suspended after the government offered a since-rejected deal – include shutting one in four hospital beds, cancelling one in four planned surgeries and refusing one in four new referrals to outpatient clinics.
In an update sent to members last week, the union said they would “provide members further strategic advice about stage 2 when the timing is right to get the best outcome for members”.
Stage one measures, which include refusing to work overtime and wearing union shirts at work, have continued since the union began industrial action in early May and were not suspended after the hospital’s offer.
But the union still has some measures – which are supposed to start within 30 days of the ballot – they were yet to take, prompting an application to FairWork to extend the deadline to 60 days.
The rejected offer would have seen workers’ pay increase about 4.5 per cent each year, but the exact amount was uncertain due to pending Fair Work decisions.
A government spokeswoman said they hoped a resolution would 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.
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