Aged care workers vow to strike

Union officials representing 15,000 aged care workers in three states vow to pursue ‘unprecedented’ campaign in support of better pay and conditions

Aged-care workers have traditionally been reluctant to take industrial action but UWU aged-care director Carolyn Smith says she expects strong support for an upcoming campaign.

Union officials representing 15,000 aged-care workers across three states have vowed to pursue an “unprecedented” campaign of protected strike action if their claims for wage rises, better staffing and reduced workloads are not met.

United Workers Union officials in Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia have endorsed applying for, and taking, protected strike action in what they said was a “dramatic ­escalation” in their campaign for significant changes in aged care.

While aged-care workers had traditionally been reluctant to take industrial action, UWU aged-care director Carolyn Smith said she expected strong support from workers.

“This is mostly women workers saying ‘time’s up’,” she said. “It’s a little bit like the MeToo movement for aged-care workers. It’s saying we’re just not going to take it any longer.”

The Fair Work Commission is considering a union claim to lift aged-care pay to 25 per cent above the award, but no decision will be made until next financial year, with final hearings in the case scheduled for July.

Ms Smith said the message from members was that the decision was “a long way away”, might not be successful, and, even if ­upheld, any pay rises would be phased in.

Due to the pandemic, bargaining with providers had largely been put on hold, with the union seeking to use upcoming negotiations to lift rates up to 25 per cent above the award in line with the claim. “Workers are being pushed beyond breaking point by understaffing, impossible workloads and the emotional toll of not ­having enough time or support to provide the quality of care that residents require,”’ Ms Smith said.

“To add insult to injury, they are also expected to put up with some of Australia’s lowest wages. Aged-care workers are fed up with being ignored by their ­employers, who have consistently rejected their claims for a meaningful increase in wages and more care time.”

Leading Age Services Australia chief executive Sean Rooney said aged-care providers supported higher wages for staff and had called on the federal government to commit to fund wage increases in the upcoming MYEFO statement.

Mr Rooney said providers wanted the government to fully fund any increases in wages coming out of the commission proceedings.

“Australia’s aged-care workforce is at crisis point due to the pandemic and many years of staff shortages,” he said.

“Staff have been asked to do more to continue providing high-quality and compassionate care to older, vulnerable Australians.”

Ms Smith said members were concerned that while significant money had been put into aged care since the aged-care royal commission, “literally none of it had ended up in care”. “There’s no more staff on the floor and certainly none of it ended up as part of improving their pretty appalling wage and conditions.”