Nurses strike against cutbacks

By Nikki Ulasowski

Brisbane -- More than 4000 nurses at 21 public hospitals statewide struck on March 10 against plans of state health minister Ken Hayward to cut 220 nursing administration jobs, in a bid to save $10 million.

Nurses Union secretary Denis Jones said that if the dispute was not resolved by March 15, when nurses around the state were due to hold stop-work meetings, the government would have a major crisis on its hands.

Working conditions for nurses in Queensland are increasingly worse than in other states. Queensland nurses still have not received a 38-hour week. The safety and working conditions for nurses in remote areas are still bad. Nurses often work overtime without pay.

Hayward has set up regional health authorities, centralising the decision making and depriving nurses of a say about their jobs.

“There is a perception that nurses, being predominantly women, can be told what to do and not asked for their opinion”, says the union.

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