NSW nurses are bent upon going on strike despite requests from Deputy Premiera and Minister for Health Carmel Tebbutt for them to re-enter negotiations. The strike is set to go ahead against the orders of the Industrial Relations Commission (IRC).
Ms Tebutt said, “I would like to see the Nurses’ Association abide by the decision of the commission and refrain from industrial action, come back to the negotiating table so we can discuss these issues in an environment that’s free from industrial action.”
However NSW Nurses’ Association (NSWNA) general secretary Brett Holmes said the negotiations have been on for seven months now without progress. They are asking for a major overhaul of the state’s public hospital and health care system. Nurses and midwives from over 170 of the state’s hospitals will stop work on Wednesday, calling for nurse to patient ratios of one to four.
Mr. Holmes said, “The government’s idea of negotiating on the nurse patient ratio is short and made up of two letters - N and O… We don’t call that negotiation.” Mr. Holmes continued, “What we have experienced is every effort under the sun by management to avoid or delay the resolution of these workplace issues.” He added that the choice for striking shows that the nurses want change. He assured that during the strike on Wednesday, hospital wards would have night duty staffing levels while emergency and critical care units would have enough staff to meet patient demand. He said, “There is no doubt that nurses will ensure that patients’ lives are not put at risk as a result of this strike… But the reality is, patients’ lives are put at risk every day by the Department of Health.”
This will be the first state wide nurses' strike since 2001.
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