Public sector nurses and midwives across the Bega Valley and Eurobodalla have walked off the job this morning, as they escalate their pay dispute with the state government.
Nurses from hospitals in Bega, Moruya, and Batemans Bay will stop work for 24 hours, from 7am today (Wednesday November 13).
Most will be attending a community rally and walk across the bridge in Moruya at midday, calling on the state government for a 15 percent payrise.
Bega Nurses and Midwives Association President, Diane Lang, wants the NSW Government to listen to their concerns.
“Nurses and midwives grapple with guilt and sleepless nights over the patient care that we deliver, and sometimes wonder if our dedication and hard work is truly acknowledged,” Ms Lang said.
“Obviously the Minns Government disregards our skills and continues to refuse to improve our working pay and conditions,” she said.
“It’s time to strike, time to tell the community and the government we need a payrise, we need more money invested in NSW Health in order to retain the staff that we currently have and to acquire more nurses and midwives in the years ahead.”
Listen back to our chat with Diane Lang on the award-winning iHeart Far South Coast podcast below.
Minimal staffing will be maintained in public hospitals and health services during the strike but planned surgeries will be postponed and our emergency departments will have longer wait times.
Minister for Health Ryan Park has asked the community to call Healthdirect for non-life-threatening conditions on 1800 022 222 to speak with a registered nurse about care options to ease wait times in our emergency departments.
Mr Park said the NSW Government is doing everything they can to minimise the impact of this industrial action on their care.
“NSW Health is working hard to ensure postponed surgeries are rescheduled as quickly as reasonably possible,” Mr Park said.
“Over the course of four weeks of intensive negotiations we have reached agreement on all of the Association’s non-wage claims, as well as put forward a range of options to fund and deliver a new increased wage offer.
“The Association had previously agreed to cease industrial action contingent on the Government paying nurses and midwives an interim increase while work towards a final settlement remains on foot, in order to shield patient care from impacts arising from industrial action.
“I am disappointed the Association has walked away from this commitment to the Industrial Relations Commission and the community.
“As the President of the Commission has said this ‘is a failure by a major industrial party to abide by a commitment given to this Commission’ and ‘industrial action next Wednesday is unnecessary. It will cost nurses pay and cause inconvenience and worse to patients and their families’.”
The NSW Government has made investments in nursing and midwifery wages, including removing the wages cap and delivering a 4.5 per cent wage increase last year; and offering a baseline 10.5 per cent wage increase over the next three years.
