Nurses rally for ‘modicum of respect’ in stronger pay deal
Nurses and midwives are rallying outside the Royal Adelaide Hospital today after rejecting the state government’s latest pay offer. But they are staying tight-lipped on what they are demanding.
The SA branch of the Australian Nursing & Midwifery Federation (ANMF) said the state government’s latest offer of a 13 per cent pay rise over four years was not enough, as months-long negotiations continued.
However, the government recently gave doctors a 13 per cent pay rise over three years and the allied health workers’ union won 13.5 per cent over four years.
When asked what percentage or dollar figure the union would like to see, ANMF SA executive director Jackie Wood said the group was not publicly naming a dollar figure but said nurses and midwives wanted parity with other states. She claimed SA is currently paid the second-lowest rate in the nation.
“I couldn’t give you a dollar or percentage figure, because it is about the government trying to work out what is that parity, and what they think they can respect us with,” Wood said.
ANMF CEO and secretary Elizabeth Dabars AM agreed, saying it was hard to nail down a figure, because the group was looking at a holistic package that addresses retaining SA nurses and midwives compared to other states.
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“There’s no mistake that the state government knows what the difference looks like, but it is about a whole package,” she said.
Their concerns also include rural and regional attraction and retention provisions, increased penalties for night duties, and addressing the use of excessive overtime.
Today’s rally is a stop-work lunch meeting, and would not interrupt patient care.
“Our intention is simply to have the opportunity to speak with members about these legitimate concerns,” Dabars said.
“I mean, the reality is, they often don’t actually take their lunch breaks, sadly.
“This comes back down to once again, our members, nurses and midwives of this state, spend their time caring and being compassionate to the public at large.
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“What they are looking for is a modicum of respect from the government and its representatives by way of a fair and reasonable offer that actually places them in a national and international market in the midst of a nursing and midwifery workforce shortage.
“So we don’t think it’s too much to ask, responding to those outstanding matters that we have carefully put to the government negotiators.”
It marks the first of a series of meetings for union members to organise next steps and signal their readiness to take further industrial action if their demands were not met.
The union await a “revised and respectful offer” by next Wednesday, September 17.
A government spokesperson told InDaily that the government “is committed to good faith negotiation with the nurses union to reach a new enterprise agreement”.
“The government’s most recent offer to nurses includes a real wage increase above the current rate of inflation and is consistent with the annual wage rises recently supported by South Australian doctors,” the spokesperson said.
Pay disparity between states has been a key theme of pay negotiations with other unions across the health sector this year.
Reports earlier this year revealed uncompetitive pay and conditions drove a shortage in psychologists, and that SA was the second-lowest paying state for first-year doctor graduates.
Pay deals struck with the Salaried Medical Officers Association and the Health Services Union earlier this year pulled SA workers out of those ranks.
As the ANMF await a new pay offer, the state government last week introduced new laws for nurse and midwife-to-patient ratios, requiring one nurse for every four patients, along with a nurse in charge, during morning and afternoon shifts.
