Macquarie Hospital nurses have pledged to take further action and are considering a community campaign as their employer refuses to engage in substantive negotiations for an Enterprise Agreement.
This follows strike action and protest rallies last month by nurses at five private hospitals owned by Macquarie Hospital Services.
NSWNA General Secretary Brett Holmes said this is the first case where private hospitals nurses have been forced to take industrial action against an employer.
Sally McInally, NUM, Minchinbury Community Hospital
On 26 July, 24-hour work stoppages took place at Minchinbury Community Hospital (Mount Druitt), Delmar Private Hospital (Dee Why), Manly Waters Private Hospital (Manly), Eastern Suburbs Private Hospital (Randwick) and President Private (Kirrawee).
During the stoppage around 100 nurses rallied at Martin Place in Sydney, and nurses rallied throughout the day outside their hospitals.
‘Nurses working for Macquarie Private Hospitals were driven to taking industrial action after 18 months of protracted, fruitless negotiations with their employer for an Enterprise Agreement.
‘These loyal, hard-working nurses have not had a pay rise in more than two years, and their wages are lagging 15% behind public health sector wages and up to 12% behind other private hospital wages,’ said Brett.
‘Most private hospital operators seem to understand the need to remain competitive in terms of nurses’ wages and conditions. Most employers reach agreement with the NSWNA without the need for industrial action. But this is not the case with Macquarie Hospital Services.’
Sally McAnally, NUM, has worked at Minchinbury Community Hospital for 20 years along with many other nursing staff. ‘NSWNA members at Minchinbury are extremely disappointed that it has taken almost two years of negotiations and industrial action and we are no closer to achieving an Enterprise Agreement,’ she said.
The majority of nurses at Macquarie Private Hospitals have now signed a pledge to take further action if required, and are considering a community campaign to raise awareness and harness the support of their local communities.
Why should Macquarie Hospital Services nurses go backwards financially, at a time when we are desperately trying to keep people in the nursing profession?
Image credit: NSWNA
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