Tas health workers fight for social justice

By Ben Courtice

HOBART — Despite forcing the state government to the negotiating table on June 7, the Health and Community Services Union (HACSU) has been unable to win any government concessions on their wage claim for public sector health workers. The claim is for $50 per week, or a 10% increase — whichever is greater.

"The government is saying that it's not prepared to move one inch from its offer [of a 5.5% rise]", Ros Harvey, acting state secretary of HACSU told Green Left.

The campaign has won several important victories. Private sector health employees in six private hospitals have won wage rises of $50 per week, or 7.5%, whichever is higher. Nurses were given a 10% wage rise last December. At the same time government ministers gave themselves a 5.6% rise. For health minister Peter McKay this means an extra $150 per week. The offer to non-nursing staff is a 5.5% rise over two years.

HACSU members gave negotiators a May 30 deadline to finalise negotiations. While private hospitals agreed to the wage rise, the government did not claiming that it would lead to a "wages break-out".

Some union members were threatened with arrest by hospital management when they imposed work bans and security guards have been made to do the work of trained staff. Management and the government stood down large numbers of workers on June 4 and non-nursing staff responded with rolling stoppages and a 24-hour strike on June 6.

The pay claim, with the flat $50 increase for low-paid workers, is described by Harvey as "a social justice strategy ... the problem with percentage increases is that the gap between the people at the bottom and the people at the top grows." The union would not back down, she said.

"Even Reith's proposed legislation, terrible though that is, is better than the Tasmanian legislation. No union has really been subject to this legislation until now. There are implications in this for the entire union movement, not just our membership."

From GLW issue 235