Bed shuts, surgeries cancelled in nurses' pay fight
Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation’s members rejected the Victorian government’s pay offer.
A quarter of Victoria’s public hospital beds could be shut and planned surgeries cancelled if nurses are not offered a better pay government deal within two weeks.
The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation’s branch members rejected the state government’s annual three per cent pay increase offer on Tuesday.
This deal also included an additional annual $1500 payment.
The vote’s result means nurses can wear union T-shirts at work, refuse to work overtime and not complete paperwork from next week.
Members will meet to consider a new offer from the state government on May 15 or will go ahead with a second stage of action.
These harsher measures will start two days after and include the closure of one in four beds, cancellation of one in four elective surgeries and stop-work meetings.
Federation branch secretary Lisa Fitzpatrick said nurses were working in a “fractured” health system.
“Nurses and midwives take industrial action as a last resort when no one is listening to them,” she said.
“These bans will be disruptive and may cause inconvenience but they will not impact on patient health or welfare.”
Ms Fitzpatrick said workforce casualisation was the cause of rostering problems and a “significant contributor” to hospital budget blowouts.
“Hospital spending on unrostered and rostered overtime and agency nurses and midwives has doubled over the last four years alone, hospitals could save a bucketload of money if they rebuild their permanent workforce,’ she said.
“Reversing the casualisation of the workforce will take a higher and more nuanced package than the government’s blunt three per cent wages policy.”
Health services spent $291 million on overtime and agency and casual nurses and midwives in 2023, according to health data.
The nursing federation projects the state government will spend in excess of $3 billion on a casual workforce by 2028.
In total, 98 per cent of voters voted for the industrial action.