Victorian healthcare workers are going on strike today in an escalation of a long-running dispute with the state government over pay and workloads.
The walkout will impact more than 80 public health services across the state, and will likely force to the cancellation of about 1,000 non-critical elective surgery procedures.
Healthcare workers, represented by the Health Workes Union, have been attempting to negotiate a new Enterprise Bargaining Agreement for almost a year.
But the Victorian Government is refusing to give these workers a genuine pay rise. Instead, the government is offering a woeful 3% salary bump — which is less than inflation and therefore a pay cut.
The HWU’s Lead Organiser, Jake McGuinness, said the government is showing utter disrespect.
“These essential healthcare workers are the backbone of our healthcare system,” Mr McGuiness said.
“But Jacinta Allan is playing the Christmas Grinch and telling these essential workers they don’t deserve a pay rise.”
The union is also pushing for a new minimum standard requiring every hospital operating theatre to be staffed by at least one dedicated theatre technician, and other measures to reduce workloads and worker stress.
Mr McGuinness said today’s elective surgery cancellations and other disruptions were regrettable, but necessary.
“These disruptions are necessary to keep our health services strong and to support patients in the long term.”
“Jacinta Allan and Mary-Anne Thomas could end this dispute today, by meeting with workers and offering them a fair deal,” he said.
The Victorian Government’s pay offer is the worst to any public sector workforce, with police having secured a 5% annual pay increase, nurses 7.1% and paramedics 8.25%.
In addition to the statewide strike, workers will today begin refusing to perform some administrative tasks.
These rolling bans will include:
- Refusing to train or onboard new staff.
- Refusing to do non-critical paperwork and reporting.
- Refusing ‘revenue raising activities’, such as collecting patients’ private health insurance details and some other payments, and
- Refusing to process IT support requests (other than those directly related to patient care).
These work bans are carefully designed to ensure patient care while frustrating the administrative operations of healthcare employers, Mr McGuinness said.
The union is planning to escalate industrial action in January if progress is not made.
ake McGuinness is available for interview.
Media contact: Ryan Sheales, 0402 351 412