Tas health professionals stop work

HOBART — On March 19, hundreds of health professionals around Tasmania stopped work for two hours to attend rallies organised by the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) and the Health and Community Services Union to protest the state Labor government's refusal to consider the special enterprise bargaining claim put forward by the unions in December.

The claim aims to address the shortage of health professionals in Tasmania, and the difficulties faced in recruiting and retaining them, by bringing wages and conditions up to the same levels as those on the mainland, by offering incentives and better conditions, and by changing the career structure to make it more flexible and relevant.

The government has used various tactics to delay dealing with the claim, including a statement released that morning saying the issues within it were "work-value related" and should be brought before the Tasmanian Industrial Relations Commission.

About 80 health professionals took action in Burnie, 130 protested in Launceston and 300 rallied in Hobart. "Health professionals in Tasmania are paid the lowest wages and conditions in the country", CPSU state secretary Tom Lynch told the Hobart rally.

Susan Austin

From Green Left Weekly, May 25, 2005.

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From GLW issue 627