WA nurses' wage claim goes to cabinet

By Vaarunika Dharmapala PERTH — Negotiations the claim of the Australian Nurses Federation (ANF) for a wage increase of 10% for all general public sector nurses, and other demands, have ended. The proposals went to state cabinet on February 19. According to Helen Atrill, secretary of the ANF, there may well be a positive resolution, the criteria for this being that all nurses, including psychiatric nurses, receive the same pay rise, with no trade-off. Since August 1994 public sector general nurses have been calling for an 8% pay rise. In August 1995 this was raised to 10% for all regular nurses and 12% for senior nurses. Other demands include the introduction of the "best practices" standard, against which all services must be evaluated, a reduction of absenteeism by up to 5%, service-driven rosters and an extra five days' leave for on-call nurses, which will particularly affect nurses working in rural areas. This is similar to ANF agreements in other states. Atrill assesses the main strength of the campaign to have been the solidarity shown by the broad and diverse layers of the union membership. This prevented employers from bypassing the ANF and bargaining with individual nurses. The government also attempted to set union against union. A 20% wage increase was offered to general nurses, excluding psychiatric nurses. The nurses used a postcard campaign and held a candlelight vigil to inform the broader community of the struggle and gain support, steps which Atrill assesses as highly successful. Support from other unions has also been significant.