ozzieeagle

Lets hope the Nurses dispute gets resolved here in Victoria today. Most have lost pay even though they attended work. Even non union members that have worked as normal have lost pay. There is a mass meeting called for later today, if it goes further then we are entering unchartered territory. I dont know anywhere else in the world where nurses have been fined/lost pay for turning up for work.

There is a strong possibility of the nurses calling for support from other states and other unions over this dispute.

My wife is a psychatric nurse, they are under a different union and not involved at this stage, despite working in the same hospital here in Melbourne.

Like I said I'm not sure where this is going, and wondered if there was anyone directly involved that would care to post.

Amazulu

Don't know what tyhe dispute is about and hope they sort it out but there is never, ever a reason for nurses to go on strike.

ozzieeagle

They are currently imposing paper work bans, and closing beds, and trying to ensure only elective surgery is impacted.


The main thrust of their complaint is patient staff ratio.


I was just going to post the link, re what was happening this morning in effects of the bans, when this became the latest news.

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=93377


Hopefully this news is reciprocated by the nurses.

Stitch

Why not?

Ginny

Amazulu

Because people would probably die if they did.

Stitch

Then why are nurses not valued more and given pay and conditions that reflect this level of responsibility etc. Medical staff threaten and there's an outcry and pay and conditions are soon sorted.

Cheers

Ginny

Amazulu

Sure they need to be looked after bit imagine if you were really sick or your child was really sick and in hospital and the nurses went on strike?

Nurses should never go on strike and I reckon it should be against the law for them to strike.

harveyhare

Then the effect would be more nurses leaving and higher levels of negligence.
I work in a neonatal nursery and the responsibilty is huge, we need more nurses and better pay to attract that level of skill.

Di

Amazulu

So should the nurses in a neonatal nursery go on strike if they were not getting what they wanted?

harveyhare

Depends on the level of negotiation, if we have no regular staff then agency staff are used and the cost is double. All we ask for is fair recognition of our skills and responsibilities.
There is a shortage of nurses everywhere, we need to make the proffesion more attractive and a decent wage will do that.

Di

Amazulu

If agency staff step in then you are not going to get what you want.

Sure, nurses are a cornerstone of society but they are badly paid in most countries with the exception of maybe the US? Nurses go into the industry knowing the wages are poor.

Stitch

Hence my point about valuing nurses and offering them a decent pay and conditions so that they do not feel they have to strike. There was an uproar recently in the UK where Doctors complaining and said that if they did not recieve better pay etc they would strike. Little bit of debatet went on but sure enough their pay increased. Nurses should be given the same respect and not belittled and bullied into not standing up for decent pay for the job they do.

Cheers

Ginny

Stitch

So if nurses are not ever allowed to stand up for themselves (yet medical staff are) then nurses will always be treated and paid as second class citizens. Is that right? My own children suffer (cannot provide for them or live in certain areas because house prices are high and do not have the wage to reflect this!) surely there is an injustice there?

Cheers

Ginny

Stitch

But the wages should not be poor for the job that is done. If people continue to accept that then nothing will change. Change is needed and it must happen if nurses are to feel valued and rewarded. More chance they will stay and people won't die because of being looked after by agency staff (no offence to agency staff intended, just making a point).

Cheers

Ginny

Amazulu

How would you feel if a child that was in your care died whilst you were on strike?