Fair Work Commission cancels industrial action by NSW nurses

ABC NEWS (Australia)

A planned strike that would have seen hundreds of nurses across eight hospitals in New South Wales has been suspended by the Fair Work Commission. Just hours before the workers were scheduled to walk off the job.

Transcript

00:00The Fair Work Commission ruled that these strikes would pose two greater risks to public

00:07safety if they went ahead, citing the absence of adequate staffing levels at the Newcastle

00:12Private Hospital's birthing suite.

00:14That's just one of eight hospitals that would have been affected by this 26-hour walk-off

00:19where nurses would have provided life-preserving or life-saving care at these facilities, however,

00:25would have banned overtime and would have seen most of their staff not on.

00:29It would have almost certainly caused a delay to non-urgent medical care at these facilities

00:34as well.

00:35However, the Fair Work Commission believed there was two greater risks around staffing

00:39at that birthing suite.

00:41Because that birthing suite was no longer covered, it meant the entirety of the industrial

00:46action was no longer protected, i.e. it means it would now be illegal for nurses at other

00:51private health facilities administered by HealthScope to walk off the job.

00:56So why did nurses want a strike in the first place?

00:59Well, they've taken issue with their rate of pay.

01:01They want a 15% increase to match their counterparts at other HealthScope-administered hospitals

01:07around the country.

01:08They also want to see better staffing ratios, as is the case in the public health system,

01:15as well as better leave and penalty entitlements.

01:18Michael Thwaites from the Nurses' Union says staffing ratios are critical to quality patient

01:24care.

01:25We know that the staffing levels across many HealthScope facilities are below that of the

01:30public sector.

01:31And whilst we see the public sector moving towards nurse-to-patient ratios, HealthScope

01:36maintains that its current staffing levels are adequate.

01:40Our members say it doesn't meet the evidence-based best practice that we know should be implemented.

01:47In a statement, HealthScope confirmed that the strike action had been prohibited by the

01:51Fair Work Commission and called off by the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association.

01:57They said specifically their concerns were due to NSW NMA's refusal to provide assurances

02:03around safe staffing.

02:06That means the possibility of strikes down the track is still very much a live one, especially

02:11while this pay dispute remains unresolved.

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