New South Wales doctors strike over poor pay

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Angry doctors have marched on the premier's office - on the second day of their strike over pay and conditions. While there's been no progress in negotiations. The government's thanked the union. For helping keep emergency departments afloat.

Transcript

00:00They might be on strike, but they're still doing their rounds.

00:06This is our line in the sand and we will not back down!

00:11From St George Hospital, they marched to the Premier's office to give him their diagnosis.

00:16What do we do when the system is hemorrhaging doctors?

00:19Stand up, fight back!

00:21We're at breaking point because we're the people in the system that are trying to hold it together

00:24and we're not getting any support from the government.

00:26The government says about 3,000 doctors took part in today's strike, putting more strain on surgical waiting lists.

00:32New South Wales hospitals average about 900 per day.

00:36Yesterday's surgery cancellation figure was 370.

00:40Two days into the strike, that's reached a total of 614.

00:44But emergency rooms are still meeting benchmarks, with the union helping the government fill critical gaps in the system.

00:50They've released their members to actually do this work and fill these shifts.

00:55Save care!

00:56Doctors want a 30 per cent pay rise across the workforce, but insist they don't expect that in a single year.

01:02The government says it wants to focus first on junior doctors' pay.

01:06Save care!

01:07In New South Wales, they have a first year base salary of $76,000, the lowest in the country.

01:13In Victoria, it's 83,000. In Queensland, they start at more than 90,000.

01:18No one is hiding under a rock and pretending that we're not aware of discrepancies. I'm well aware of that.

01:25The government says there are 600 more doctors in the public system now than there were a year ago.

01:30But it's acknowledged that without better pay, more of them will look for a better deal, either in the private sector or interstate.

01:37Doctors say their conditions are just as important as their pay.

01:43I have seen grown men and women break down in tears after being on their feet for 50 hours, without sleeping, without a break.

01:50The strike is set to continue tomorrow

01:53We'll be back!

01:54And that may not be the end of it.

01:566- mereka necoming

Category

Transcript

Recommended