Local nurses travelled to Sydney on November 15 to take part in planned industrial action undertaken by the Nurses & Midwives Association (NSWNMA)
Local nurse Shannon Best along with other nurses from the Weddin Shire joined 12,000 NSW nursing and midwife colleagues on November 13, in marching on Macquarie Street to, once again, ask the premier for a 15% increase in pay.
"The NSWNMA have been campaigning for this much deserved pay rise, but requests have so far fallen on deaf ears," Ms Best said.
The NSWNMA have been campaigning for justified and necessary improvements to help rebuild our public health services.
As part of these improvements, they are demanding a 15% pay increase, plus superannuation, for all nurses and midwives.
"I have grown up as a part of the Grenfell community and wish to continue to live and work here, but moving interstate for improved remuneration (not to mention safe staff to patient ratios) is looking more and more attractive," Ms Best said.
"What our facility needs is for more nursing staff to be able to experience the joys of living and working here too. Pay parity would make a huge difference in attracting and retaining nursing staff.
"Our facility and community have just been blessed with six international nurses and their families," she said.
"We are fighting for pay parity to ensure these skilled and experienced nurses stay, rather than be forced to leave for financial reasons.
"The local nursing staff provide essential, life saving work across the Weddin Shire. Not just in the nurses in the hospital, but the district nursing team, also.
"We deserved to be paid what we are worth," Ms Best said.
Prior to the NSWNMA's rally, Ryan Park, Minister for Health and Minister for Regional Health said over the course of four weeks of intensive negotiations they have reached agreement on all of the Association’s non-wage claims, as well as put forward a range of options to fund and deliver a new increased wage offer.
"The Association had previously agreed to cease industrial action contingent on the Government paying nurses and midwives an interim increase while work towards a final settlement remains on foot, in order to shield patient care from impacts arising from industrial action," Mr Park said.
"I am disappointed the Association has walked away from this commitment to the Industrial Relations Commission and the community."
Mr Park said the Government has made major investments in nursing and midwifery wages which include:
Removing the wages cap and delivering a 4.5 per cent wage increase last year;
Offering a baseline 10.5 per cent wage increase over the next three years; and
Combined this is around a $15,000 increase for the typical nurse per annum
Mr Park said they are also delivering on major commitments to reform of staffing and conditions:
Implementation of Safe Staffing Levels underway in 16 Emergency Departments with over 100 additional nurses already started and over $1 billion allocated;
Investing $572 million to save the jobs of 1,112 nurses unfunded from 1 July; and
$121 million in Health Study Subsidies including almost 2,000 studying or graduating from nursing this year.
In an update on November 13, the NSWNMA said the government has broken with negotiation protocol by revealing the substandard proposal it put forward during our recent “good faith” negotiations.
"The government’s proposition, averaged out to 15% over three years, required significant trade-offs, and only provided 3% for RN8s and above. It did not include movement on any other cost items, and it was nowhere near what members expect or deserve."
The NSWNMA said the government suggested they take certain penalty rates off nurses and midwives to simply offer them back in base wages.
"We flat-out rejected these suggestions because it was divisive and unfair, you cannot give with one hand and take with the other.
"Nor did it resolve the gender and state-driven pay disparity that is crippling our health system and forcing nurses and midwives to move to other states," the NSWNMA said.