Healthcare Workers On Strike

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Actions, protests & rallies, Naarm/Melbourne
Graphic for event: Healthcare Workers On Strike, 11am 20/01/2026 Victorian Trades Hall Naarm (Melbourne)

When

Where

Victorian Trades Hall
54 Victoria St
Carlton VIC 3053
Australia

Why

Healthcare workers will walk off the job today (Tuesday), causing mass disruption across the public health system, because of the Victorian Government’s failure to strike a deal.

More than 10,000 workers from more than 80 healthcare services — including all of Melbourne’s major public hospitals — will take part in the strike.

Participating workers include cooks, cleaners, orderlies, theatre technicians and phlebotomists (who take patient blood samples).

The protected industrial action will force the cancellation or postponement of thousands of surgeries and procedures, and will likely exacerbate wait times for care.

“Jacinta Allan’s failure to offer healthcare workers a fair, liveable wage deal has made this industrial action unavoidable,” HWU Leader Organiser Jake McGuinness.

Tuesday’s strike is the latest escalation in a long-running dispute over pay and workloads (see full timeline below).

Also included below are workforce voting rates, showing overwhelming support for industrial action across individual health services.

Read more.

Contact

Health Workers Union
03 9341 3300
[email protected]
hwu.org.au
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