Nurses join statewide protest over pay and conditions Coffs Coast Coffs Coast - popup ad Coffs Coast News by News Of The Area - Modern Media - September 13, 2024 Around 500 nurses and midwives rallied outside the Big Banana. AROUND 500 public sector nurses and midwives in Coffs Harbour joined a statewide twelve-and-a-half-hour strike for improved pay on Tuesday. The renewed strike action comes after demands for a fifteen percent wage increase were knocked back by the State Government. Advertise with News of The Area today. It’s worth it for your business. Message us. Phone us – (02) 4981 8882. Email us – media@newsofthearea.com.au Instead, the Labor government has offered a 10.5 percent wage increase to all public-sector workers over a three year period. NSW Premier Chris Minns has said the union’s requested pay increase is unaffordable. “I have to tell taxpayers across the state, if we implemented a fifteen percent, one-year increase in salaries, it would cost $6.5 billion, that’s more than we spend on the entire police force in one year,” he told 2GB radio. Rallies were launched on Tuesday morning at sixteen locations across NSW. Gathering at the Big Banana, local health care staff said they are frustrated at their pay claim being ignored. NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association (NSWNMA) Branch Secretary Joanne Cooper told NOTA the atmosphere at the rally was one of determination and empowerment. “We are calling on Minister Rose Jackson to support us and represent us to help close the gender pay gap and pay us fairly,” she said. The statewide strike ran from 7am to 7.30pm, with Coffs Coast nurses and midwives rallying for two hours from 10am. They say they do not take industrial action lightly but feel ignored by the government. NSWNMA General Secretary Shaye Candish said the State Government was “not bargaining in good faith”. “Not once in our ten negotiation meetings has the government sat at the table and discussed nurses and midwives’ pay,” she said. “That’s despite us finding significant cost savings through our Rapid Business Case. “Nurses and midwives shouldn’t have to foot the bill for safe staffing ratios in our public hospitals and forgo a decent pay rise – there’s no other workforce that’s been required to pay for their own resources. “It’s clear the State Government is choosing to pay nurses and midwives the lowest wages in the country, and it will continue to see our public health system fall apart if it doesn’t pay nurses and midwives enough to stay in NSW.” Tuesday’s strike was held in defiance of a recommendation from the Industrial Relations Commission that the NSWNMA should cease industrial action. By Andrea FERRARI Coffs Harbour NSWNMA Branch Vice President Sue White speaks at the rally.
