Nurses Rally

Nurses and midwives rallied in Tamworth on Tuesday, July 23 as they push for a one-year 15% pay increase.

Transcript

00:00Better pay and then we'll stay. Better pay and then we'll stay. Better pay and then we'll stay. Stand up, fight back.

00:09What do we do? Stand up, fight back.

00:12Our ED runs like a mash unit every day. They don't know how many staff they've got.

00:19They run short. They do doubles. People pick up extra shifts.

00:24And with any patient, if you've had a loved one in our ED, you will know how bad it's been.

00:31We did 2.8 million.

00:34And the staff are doing their best. Staff don't get a drink, so they don't need to wee.

00:40That's fantastic, because you probably won't get to your breaks.

00:43We are calling on the Government, we're calling on the Treasurer, Daniel Mookie, that they have to meet our claim.

00:51They have to take us seriously, because it's just not happening.

00:55Did you know that it's 2024? Yes, you do.

01:00But guess what? A nurse is living on 2008 wages.

01:05That is just untenable. It cannot continue.

01:09Better pay and then we'll stay. Better pay and then we'll stay.

01:13What do we do? Stand up, fight back.

01:16What do we do? Stand up, fight back.

01:19The state of New South Wales deserves better.

01:22Over time, people doing double shifts, coming back the next morning to do a morning shift.

01:29Doing a night duty and coming back and doing an afternoon shift, because we just don't have the staff.

01:34We're tired, we're worn out, we're worried about the mums and the bubs in the community.

01:40We just don't know where we can go.

01:43And at the end of the day, there aren't any more midwives coming.

01:46We are so short staffed, I just cannot even begin to tell you.

01:50They've come back with nothing.

01:53They can't even agree to a nurse that's working full time, having two days off together.

01:59They can roster us however they like.

02:02Our rostering system is terrible.

02:04Can you imagine not having two days off together when you're exhausted, you've worked extra shifts?

02:09They have not agreed to any of our claims.

02:12And it actually really is critical that they start coming to the table and they start taking us seriously.