The Queensland Nurses Union (QNU) is bristled and protesting against the fact that even 12 weeks after the Queensland health staff pay bungle, nothing has been done to fix the problem.
The QNU plans to take up the issue with the Industrial Relations Commission (IRC) today afternoon (1 PM AEST). There have been tens of thousands of nurses who are left under paid, or not paid after the introduction of the new computerized pay system couple of months back.
QNU secretary Gay Hawksworth believes that with the early flu season coming up the work pressure of nurse will mount. She feels that a third party should come into the picture to solve the issue. “There is a loss of confidence in the system that has been introduced but there is also now an increasing despair really that it will ever be fixed,” she said. A nurses’ strike may be a last resort she said. She also rued that “All Queensland Health keeps talking about at the moment is 'stabilization' of the new system… We also want the QIRC to help clarify just what Queensland Health means when it says no employee will be financially disadvantaged.”
Queensland Health's director general Mick Reid feels that something constructive might emerge out of today’s meeting. “There will be senior representation there and we will engage with the Industrial Relations Commission and Queensland Nurses Union to try and get some satisfactory responses to the issues they have raised in their application,” he said.