On Wednesday Victorian nurses will be meeting at Dallas Brooks Hall in Melbourne to discuss the upcoming Enterprise Bargaining Agreement negotiations between ANF (who represents nurses) and the government.
The last EBA, in 2007, involved the nastiest intimidation I've seen in 19 years of industrial disputes in nursing, with blatant bullying from management. It took place after the introduction of WorkChoices, a Liberal Federal government policy that significantly diminished the capacity for employees to take industrial action. The first serious industrial action after the legislation was passed, the whole of unionised Australia watched this test case, and I suspect there's never been more pressure on admin to force us to back down.
That would certainly explain the unprecedented bullying tactics and threats I not only heard about but witnessed. Like many nurses, I was docked pay in 4/24 blocks for dropping my patient load by one and closing a bed - my hospital wouldn't let us put those closed beds in one area but compelled any nurse who stood by bed closures to sacrifice pay. I worked eight night shifts, in charge with a patient load, over two weekends, and was docked the lot.
We held strong, in the face of threats and with the possibility of fines and jail time for ordinary union members, and had the backing of workers across the country. I still get a little choked up remembering that walk from the buses to Festival Hall, the street lined with members of other unions cheering us on. I was convinced that, for the first time since 1986, we were going to have to back down or take strike action - the government had been totally unwilling to budge on anything, wanting not only to give us no pay or condition improvements but also to remove the world's first nurse: patient ratios.
And then the state secretary stepped on the stage, a little later than expected, fresh from a 12th-hour meeting. The government had conceded almost every point, in exchage for renegotiation in four years, rather than the usual three year term that would mean negotiations during the state election. The thousands of nurses present were jubilant, and it was just amazing. WorkChoices was removed by the incoming Federal Labor government soon after.
That four years has gone remarkably quickly, and here we are again. Despite a convincing number of studies demonstrating a clear relationship between a better educated nursing workforce and better patient outcomes (including the essential bottom line results of shorter bed stays, fewer complications, fewer transfers to ICU and fewer readmissions), once again the spectre of unlicensed staff replacing nurses is raised. Despite the massive improvement on retention and recruitment of ratios, they're also threatened. And now there are whispers of a new innovation - split shifts with time off between nursing periods, to reduce floor staff in quieter periods - four hours on, two hours off and two hours on, for example. I'm not sure when these hypothetically quieter periods are, but according to bean counters somewhere, they exist.
This is the seventh time I've been involved in a campaign of industrial action. I'm so tired of gearing up for this ritual every three (or, in this case, four) years. Of knowing that, in the end, we'll get what we want but only if enough of us fight hard enough. Of trying to engage junior nurses, who weren't here last time, in participating despite the short-term cost of missing out on a few hours of pay. Of having to educate the public, again, about how important it is to have qualified staff caring for them and for their families. Of convincing my non-nursing colleagues that this affects them, and their patients, too. Of short-sighted governments focusing on the biggest part of the salary budget as an expense instead of the whole point of patient stays, and a necessary evil to keep bed stays as short as they are. Of admin, who started out on the floor but have become more concerned about pleasing their superiors than supporting their staff.
But then I think of the support from patients, families and the general public. I think about how unifying it is to work together toward a common goal, one that benefits not only us but those coming in to the profession after us, and the recipients of our care. And I think about my family, and myself, who will one day need skilled nursing staff caring for them - educated nurses whose expertise can make the difference between life and death, between comfort and distress, between being heard and being a task. And I feel ready to do this again.
On Wednesday Victorian nurses will be meeting at Dallas Brooks Hall in Melbourne to decide how best to respond to offers that disrespect the work we do, the care we provide, and the indispensible role we play in the health and welfare of Victoria's citizens. For those AN members in the state, I hope to see you there. And I hope the rest of you will support us.
I've been hanging out a bit on the ANF Facebook page and trying hard not to type in all caps - there are a whole lot of people who seem distraught about pausing the industrial action, as though Lisa Fitzpatrick and the executive don't know what they're doing. Um, they've got industrial relations experience, training, expect advice, have done this before, and have information we don't. I think we can trust them with our best interests.
Totally agree Talaxandra Lisa and the team made a difficult decision but we have to show willing. Will see what happens in the next few days and at the meeting on Wed.
Thanks Grace for the words of support, I know that you have fought for where we are today and I appreciate that. It is amazing position we are in compared with other states let alone internationally.
Please attend any of the public rallies you can - I'll be at RMH/RWH tomorrow, MMC Monday and the Alfred Wednesday! Full details are on the ANF's website.
NOT GOOD MY FRIEND. fOREIGNERS NOT ONLY TAKING NURSING JOBS BUT ALSO HOSPITAL BEDS.
[h=1]Vic nurses ready to quit in thousands[/h]
Frustrated nurses are ready to quit en masse as their bitterly fought industrial campaign with the Victorian government drags on.
Health Minister David Davis told The Age that the government was taking very seriously the threat of mass resignations which would throw the hospital system into chaos.
Australian Nursing Federation state secretary Lisa Fitzpatrick says she has received thousands of letters from nurses authorising her to resign on their behalf between February 13 and March 31.
But any resignations won't occur before the end of February, when the union had completed a series of meetings to brief nurses at hospitals around the state on the plan.
"There is obviously a very significant number of nurses that are considering their future permanent employment in the public sector," Ms Fitzpatrick said.
She said the nurses main concern is that they don't want to work in a system where they don't have ratios and where they have to be legally responsible for health assistants.
Ms Fitzpatrick said that the nurses planning to resign were happy to work casually in the public sector.
Nurses are seeking an 18.5 per cent pay rise over three years and eight months while the government is offering a 2.5 per cent annual rise, with any further increases to be offset by productivity measures.
Meanwhile, the Herald Sun says foreigners are clogging up Victorian hospitals and running off before paying their bills.
The paper said the freeloading foreigners left Victorian hospitals with more than $6 million in unpaid bills last year.
Angry doctors say Australians are being pushed down waiting lists while the foreigners are hogging the beds.
More than 30,000 foreign citizens were treated in Victorian hospitals in 2010-11.
We treated over 1.5 million patients last year, and $6M is less than a week's operating costs for a medium sized hospital - this is another Herald-Sun xenophobic beat up.
Well here we go! Rolling STOP WORK stoppages starting RMH tomorrow. Going in on my ADO to support the staff and boost the numbers for the first walkout!
Imagine all of this just to get the government to the table to bargain.
In a QLD rural hospital, the nurse who got a DON position had NEVER been in charge of a shift, let alone as a DON. She has NO clinical skills and has never worked in Emergency Dept. She refuses to be on call even though the other staff are very junior.
Since she was employed there in October 2010;
* She was pulled over and fined for DUI in the hospital's car
* She then walked to the hospital and got the spare set of keys and was caught driving it drunk again the same night. She was flown to Roma the next day to "explain" but nothing happened.
* Commnity have placed in complaints to QLD about her public drinking and having sex with numerous married men from the town (population of about 270 in town).
* She has been "stood down" for 6 months to prove she has ANY clinical skills when the doctor in town complained about her not knowing anything during an emergency.
* She was caught snorting cocaine.
QLD have still kept her in the DON position. Can you believe it? I'm just thankful I am not in QLD anymore and working for such a bad health department.
feb 8 by round12tko not good my friend. foreigners not only taking nursing jobs but also hospital beds.
i used to live in wa and there are no jobs there for australian people who have lived there all their life as the government and hospitals have actually paid for indian, asian and south african people to move there. it is an absolute crock!
the hospitals stated "we advertised for staff but nobody applied". i think that like all other hospitals, they advertised once and that's it. i personally live in wa if you paid me millions but it is a bad situation that i see the same thing starting to happen in other states. as if we nurses aren't getting disillusioned enough by the politics and rubbish we have to put up with, but now we can't even get a job in the profession some of us have been in for 17yrs because they have to pay us more for our seniority. we can't even move up the ranks as that is being given to those who like to brown nose. i have numerous post grads and a masters, as well as a history as a country num but i can't get a senior nurse in a city as my nose is white and i refuse to brown nose. we should all be recognized by our actions and knowledge, not by how hard we can brown nose.
talaxandra
3,037 Posts
I've been hanging out a bit on the ANF Facebook page and trying hard not to type in all caps - there are a whole lot of people who seem distraught about pausing the industrial action, as though Lisa Fitzpatrick and the executive don't know what they're doing. Um, they've got industrial relations experience, training, expect advice, have done this before, and have information we don't. I think we can trust them with our best interests.
Breathing in calm, venting online!