“They have worked extraordinarily hard for every member of this community,trying to keep them safe,and the government’s attitude is:take a pay cut,” Holmes said.
The union is also continuing to push for staff-to-patient ratios to be implemented on a shift by shift basis,a change Health Minister Brad Hazzard warned could result in some wards closing.
“The minister is talking out of his hat,” Holmes said,noting the same model had been implemented in Queensland.
Hazzard said the pay increase being given to the state’s nurses was “the highest in the nation”.
Nurses and midwives from 80 NSW hospitals walked off the job for periods of between one and 24 hours on Tuesday,in violation of an Industrial Relations Commission order obtained by the state government on the weekend.
The strike lasted 24 hours at Liverpool and Bankstown hospitals. Nurses and midwives walked off the job for 12 hours at Westmead,Blacktown,Campbelltown,and Royal Prince Alfred hospitals.
Last week,the union expressed frustration with a lack of clarity around NSW’s budget announcements,wanting to know exactly how many new nurses and midwives would be hired and where they would be stationed.