27 October 2005
St Vincent’s, Toowoomba, nurses start industrial action today over pay dispute
Queensland Nurses Union (QNU) members at Toowoomba’s 198-bed St Vincent’s Hospital have started work bans today (27 October) as part of their campaign for equal pay with public hospital nurses.
The work bans or campaign activities that started today include:
1. Distribution of flyers and information.
2. Ban on completing/recording or processing non-clinical or non-essential data entry forms, paperwork or data, including but not limited to:
2.1. costing forms in theatres
2.2. Hospital Birth Register
3. Working to rule, including:
3.1. The taking of meal breaks during the 4th and 6th hour without exception
4. No overtime to be worked.
5. No acceptance of working double shifts.
6. Wearing of campaign stickers, badges and/or bandanas.
7. No assisting doctors with routine rounds within the Maternity Unit.
St Vincent’s nurse wages are already behind public hospital rates, however St Vincent’s is only offering a three per cent annual rise while the State Government is offering an interim four per cent from yesterday to public hospital nurses.
If this arrangement goes ahead the vast majority of general ward nurses – Registered Nurses Level 1 Year 8 - at St Vincent’s will be earning 6.2 per cent less (more than $60.00 per week or $3000.00 per year) than their counterparts at the Toowoomba Base Hospital who are doing the same job.
QNU secretary, Gay Hawksworth, said today’s industrial action went ahead because St Vincent’s management refused to reconsider its inadequate pay offer.
“Surprisingly management is still refusing to reconsider the offer, even though the nurses overwhelmingly rejected it in a secret ballot conducted by the management. The vote against was 68 per cent, which is a pretty clear indication of the views of the workforce,” Ms Hawksworth said.
“The QNU warned management the nurses would reject the offer, but they went ahead with the vote anyway. Now the hospital wants to ignore the result it got. Well they can’t have it both ways.
“They keep crying poor, but the QNU understands St Vincent’s is in a better financial position than it was during the last pay negotiations when it agreed to 7.8 per cent rises over 18 months.
“Anyway, the private hospital sector is now heavily subsidised by the Federal Government and it has an obligation to treat its nurses fairly. The principle of equal pay for equal work is an important part of the Australian industrial relations system and it is only fair that people doing similar work get the same pay.
“It is nurses who keep private hospitals like St Vincent’s running 24 hours a day, seven days a week and they should not be treated as second-class citizens in terms of pay. After all they have the same qualifications and do the same work as public sector nurses,” Ms Hawksworth said.
St Vincent’s, Toowoomba, currently employs about 400 nurses and its previous enterprise bargaining agreement expired on 31 December 2004.
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26 October 2005
Mount Olivet nurses to stop work - Amongst the worst paid nurses in Queensland Nurse shortage forces service cuts
Queensland Nurses Union (QNU) members at the Mount Olivet Private Hospital at Kangaroo Point will stop work for two hours tomorrow morning (27 October) as part of their campaign for equal pay with public hospital nurses. They will also implement, from tomorrow, an extensive list of ongoing work bans as part of the campaign.
Stop work meeting details
Date: 27 October 2005
Time: 7.00am – 9.00am
Venue: Mount Olivet main entrance, Main Street Kangaroo Point
The vast majority of general ward nurses – Registered Nurses Level 1 Year 8 - at Mount Olivet are currently earning nine per cent less (more than $80.00 per week or $4000.00 per year) than their counterparts at nearby public hospitals, including the Mater Public, Royal Brisbane and Princess Alexandra hospitals, who are doing the same job.
If the interim four per cent rise being offered by the State Government is agreed to by public sector nurses then this gap will grow to 13.5 per cent or more than $122.00 per week (more than $6000.00 per year) for a full-time nurse.
The poor pay rates are creating serious recruitment and retention problems at the hospital. A severe shortage of nurses has already forced the closure of an entire floor of 29 beds for interim aged care patients.
QNU secretary, Gay Hawksworth, said these massive pay differences are only based on the base rate of pay and do not take into account things such as overtime, shift allowances and so on.
“That’s how bad things are. These nurses are amongst the worst paid in Queensland and it is hardly surprising the hospital is having problems holding or finding nurses. In fact, they have not had a pay rise since July last year.
“The principle of equal pay for equal work is an important part of the Australian industrial relations system and it is only fair that people doing similar work get the same pay.
“The private hospital sector, which is heavily subsidised by the Federal Government, has an obligation to treat its nurses fairly. It is nurses who keep private hospitals like Mount Olivet running 24 hours a day, seven days a week and they should not be treated as second-class citizens in terms of pay. After all they have the same qualifications and do the same work as public sector nurses,” Ms Hawksworth said.
The work bans or campaign activities due to start tomorrow are:
1. Distribution of flyers and information.
2. Ban on completing/recording or processing non-clinical or non-essential data entry forms, paperwork or data, including but not limited to:
2.1. Discharge plans;
2.2. Notifications of deaths;
2.3. Transfers or admissions;
2.4. Accreditation documentation;
2.5. Surveys;
2.6. 24-hour bed statements;
2.7. Appraisals;
2.8. Competencies.
3. No emptying of laundry bags.
4. No answering of telephones.
5. No cleaning-up spills.
6. No transporting of patients to x-ray.
7. No collection of mail.
8. No meetings except in relation to direct client care.
9. Non-completion of any activities in relation to audits, quality assurance or accreditation.
10. No removal of breakages.
11. No opening of main doors except for emergency personnel.
12. No direction of calls to be made after-hours.
13. No delivering or collecting of meal trays.
14. No filing.
15. No furniture moving.
16. No bed making upon discharge.
17. Wearing of campaign stickers, badges and/or bandanas.
Mount Olivet is a 180-bed hospital offering sub-acute medical, palliative care and rehabilitation programs. It currently has about 155 nurses and the previous enterprise agreement expired on 30 September 2004.
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25 October 2005
Qld public hospital nurses pay agreement expires today - New interim agreement close to finalisation
The Queensland public hospitals pay agreement, which was settled by the Australian Industrial Relations Commission in 2003, expires today (25 October) and a new interim agreement between the Queensland Nurses Union (QNU) and Queensland Government is close to finalisation.
To allow for a proper response to the Forster Review of Queensland Health and any recommendations from the Public Hospitals’ Commission of Inquiry, the QNU and State Government have agreed to an interim enterprise bargaining agreement of up to eight months. Negotiations over this agreement are nearly complete and it is expected nurses will vote on it in the next few weeks.
This interim agreement will be backdated to 26 October 2005. If accepted it will provide a four per cent or $30.00 per week pay rise, whichever is greater, from that date and a range of other improvements in working conditions including:
- Paid maternity and adoption leave - an increase from six weeks to 12 weeks paid leave, effective from 1 July 2005
- Pro-rata long service leave after seven years
- Superannuation - employees who receive the 9 per cent superannuation contribution will, effective from 1 July 2006, have this contribution calculated at their ordinary time earnings, including such things as penalty payments (currently superannuation contributions are calculated on base salary).
During the life of this interim agreement a new nursing enterprise bargaining agreement, which takes into account the Forster Review and the Public Hospitals’ Commission of Inquiry will be negotiated.
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