Nurses seek wage justice

On July 29 the Australian Nurses Federation (ANF) announced that it will pursue wage increases for 90,000 nurses covered by federal awards across Australia. The claim in the ACT, Northern Territory private sector, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia is to increase current national nursing rates by 8%. Nurses have not received any increases since the August 1991 national wage case increase.

South Australian ANF branch secretary Gail Gago said that “nurses are the major contributors in the delivery of effective and efficient health services in the community. We are putting all employers of nurses on notice that we will be approaching them with a view to negotiating agreement on the ANF claim”. The ANF believes that the work of nurses is of equal value wherever they practice.

“The ANF is committed to positive negotiations with employers. We do not approach discussions on the basis of negative cost cutting that erodes existing award entitlements. Nor will we trade off staffing levels or the quality and range of services to the community, in return for salary increases,” said Gago.

This article was posted on the Green Left Weekly Home Page.
For further details regarding subscriptions and
correspondence please contact glw@greenleft.org.au

Tools

• Bookmark This Page
• Print This Page