AIRC Hearings - Nurses' wage case finishes this morning - 21 March 2003
AIRC Hearings - EB5 case draws to a close - 18 March 2003
21 March 2003
Nurses: Worth Looking After campaign up-date
Nurses wages case finishes this morning
Queensland’s public sector-nurses wages and conditions case is scheduled to draw to a close today, Friday March 21, with final submissions by the Queensland Nurses Union (QNU) and State Government being heard this morning.
Since July last year the Full Bench of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) has been hearing the QNU’s application for an award, which provides improved wages and working conditions for nearly 20,000 Queensland public sector nurses. The full bench hearing the case is Justice Munro, Senior Deputy President Marsh and Commissioner Deegan.
On 25 October 2002 the AIRC awarded Queensland’s 20,000 public sector nurses an interim wage rise of 3.8 per cent, effective from that date, and a formal process for relieving excessive workloads, while it continued its arbitration on the QNU’s full application for improved wages and conditions.
The arbitration proceedings started after the AIRC, on 24 July 2002, terminated the bargaining between the QNU and Queensland Health for a new enterprise bargaining agreement. The bargaining process included a lengthy and bitter industrial dispute, which saw nurses implement extensive work bans, including bed closures, in hospitals and community health facilities around the State.
The QNU launched its Nurses: Worth Looking After campaign in March last year, with the objective of rebuilding Queensland’s nursing workforce through a range of initiatives including improving public sector nurse wages and ensuring workloads are safe for both patients and staff.
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18 March 2003
Nurses: Worth Looking After campaign up-date
- Nurses wages case draws to a close
- Senior Health Department finance officer recalled for further cross-examination on issues relating to government costings of wages and conditions claims and offers during the nurses dispute.
Queensland’s public sector-nurses wages and conditions case, which is being heard by the full bench of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC), is scheduled to draw to a close this week with the last two days of hearings being held in Brisbane tomorrow, Wednesday 19 March, and Thursday, 20 March.
The bulk of this weeks’ hearing time is set aside for discussion and questions on the final submissions provided to the Full Bench by the parties to the proceedings and further submissions on a draft Section 170MX (of the federal Workplace Relations Act) Award, for Queensland public sector nurses, compiled by the Full Bench.
However, in a significant development the Full Bench has also approved a Queensland Nurses Union (QNU) application to recall Queensland Health’s Finance Unit manager, Mr Paul Monaghan, for further cross-examination on various claims and assertions he has made to the AIRC about the cost of various claims and offers made during the course of the public-sector nurses’ enterprise bargaining negotiations and related AIRC proceedings.
This cross-examination of Mr Monaghan is scheduled to start at 10.00am tomorrow, Wednesday 19 March.
Since July last year the AIRC has been hearing the QNU’s application for an award, which provides improved wages and working conditions for nearly 20,000 Queensland public sector nurses. The full bench hearing the case is Justice Munro, Senior Deputy President Marsh and Commissioner Deegan.
On 25 October 2002 the AIRC awarded Queensland’s 20,000 public sector nurses an interim wage rise of 3.8 per cent, effective from that date, and a formal process for relieving excessive workloads, while it continued its arbitration on the QNU’s full application for improved wages and conditions.
The arbitration proceedings started after the AIRC, on 24 July 2002, terminated the bargaining between the QNU and Queensland Health for a new enterprise bargaining agreement. The bargaining process included a lengthy and bitter industrial dispute, which saw nurses implement extensive work bans, including bed closures, in hospitals and community health facilities around the State.
The QNU launched its Nurses: Worth Looking After campaign in March last year, with the objective of rebuilding Queensland’s nursing workforce through a range of initiatives including improving public sector nurse wages and ensuring workloads are safe for both patients and staff.
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