Nurses, midwives march on Parliament seeking a better deal on pay and conditions

UPDATED: Nurses unhappy with the progress of enterprise bargaining talks with the State Government have marched through central Hobart to rally on Parliament Lawns.

NURSES unhappy with the progress of enterprise bargaining talks with the State Government have marched through central Hobart to rally on Parliament Lawns.

Members of the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation are unhappy that they have not received what they describe as a competitive offer in months of wage talks.

More than 200 nurses turned out for the protest, which was also attended by Opposition Leader Rebecca White and Greens health spokeswoman Rosalie Woodruff.

ANMF Tasmanian branch secretary Emily Shepherd said nurses were fed up with working to hold the ailing health system together without recognition from the government.

“This action is designed to allow the community to show their support for nurses and midwives to demonstrate that a positive outcome is not only needed for the nursing and midwifery professions, but for the Tasmanian community and broader health system,” she said.

“Despite the enormous challenges in health, the Tasmanian Government are still yet to put a competitive offer on the table to nurses and midwives that will enable quality care delivery both now and into the future.

“The community walk and gathering today is designed to highlight that nurses and midwives are not just taking this action for the future of their profession, but indeed to ensure safe and quality health care services for the greater Tasmanian community into the future.”

Nurse and midwifery union members walked from the Royal Hobart Hospital to Parliament Lawns to rally against the Government’s pay offer. Picture: MATT THOMPSON

ANMF branch counsellor and nurse Kate Loader said nurses were under intolerable pressure and many were leaving for jobs elsewhere.

“We’ve been on escalation level four for nearly two weeks straight, I think, and everyone’s just burned out, we’re covering sick leave, we’ve got more grads and casual staff on our wards than we do actual regular staff – it’s putting patients at risk,” she said.

“It’s definitely getting too much for nurses. We’re starting to see massive cracks in the system we’re already short staffing as it is and now we’re actually having staff that aren’t even there because they’re leaving for better pay, they’re leaving for better conditions. So you can’t blame them really.”

Nurses at the rally outside Parliament House. Picture: MATT THOMPSON

Ms White said paying nurses properly was part of fixing the health crisis.

“The nurses who’ve walked off the job today don’t do that lightly, they don’t put their patients at risk, they have taken this action because they feel that the Government has given them no other option,” she said.

“They’ve refused to come to the table with a proper process around negotiating a pay increase above 2 per cent.

“So they’re demonstrating today to hopefully get the Government’s attention because there’s no doubt the community is behind them.”

in the latest round of negotiations in their pay claim.

AEU Tasmania State Manager Roz Madsen said teachers met with the government on Thursday afternoon to discuss their claim for improved pay and conditions.

“We note the new offer from the Government which is an improvement and addresses some workload issues however it lacks detail and falls short on key issues such as capping class sizes and fair pay,” she said.

“An extraordinary meeting of our elected member executive team will be convened as soon as possible to consider the offer and next steps.”