The nurses’ union held protest rallies in Sydney and Albury in September 2024. Photo: Roy Butler MP Facebook.
The union representing nurses in NSW has been handed four fines totalling $130,000 over strike action it took to fight for better pay and conditions in Albury, Sydney and Tweed Heads in 2024.
New South Wales Nurses and Midwives’ Association (NSWMNA) is engaged in a long-running dispute with the NSW Government over its award. It has argued that NSW is “haemorrhaging of staff to other states” and that “unlivable pay and unsafe working conditions” in hospitals must be addressed.
In August 2024, the union began planning strike action for the following month because it said the NSW Government refused to negotiate on its demand to bring pay rates in line with Victoria and Queensland.
The NSW Government informed Industrial Relations Commissioner Janet McDonald of the planned strikes. She recommended the NSWNMA immediately cease organising and participating in industrial action from 10 to 18 September 2024. When the union refused to comply, she made an order prohibiting strike action and ordering the NSWNMA to remove any reference to strikes from social media.
The NSWNMA defied these orders and went ahead with rallies on 10 and 24 September 2024. The commission later prohibited a strike planned for 13 November 2024, but the union once again refused to play ball, continuing with strike action and publicising it on its social media page.
“I am satisfied that the [NSWNMA] deliberately contravened the first, second and third dispute orders so as to warrant the imposition of four separate penalties in the total sum of $130,000,” NSW Industrial Relations Commission Judge David Chin ruled this week.
NSWNMA Griffith branch representative Kristy Wilson said the decision presented another hurdle for nurses and midwives, who she said were constantly having to balance caring for the sick with ongoing battles to be valued.
“I think I’ve been fighting over pay and conditions for most of my career,” she said.
“The only impact we can make is if we withdraw our labour. Even then, we can’t do it to the extent of other professions, because people’s lives depend on us. When we do withdraw our labour, it’s never to the detriment of patients.
“You become a nurse because you care and want to provide a service to people. But if you’re stifled and can’t do that, the only way to draw attention to that is to go on strike. But then you get fined for that; it makes it a very challenging profession.”
NSWNMA Secretary Shaye Candish said he accepted the penalty decision of the NSW Industrial Relations Commission (IRC) but the fight would go on.
“This fine does not diminish our determination to win improvements to the pay and conditions of our members,” he said.
“Our public sector nurses and midwives continue to fight for a pay rise that recognises the value of their work at a time when the gender pay gap in NSW widens.
“We are in the final stages of our historic legal case in the IRC, with preparations underway for our closing submissions to be heard early next month.
“We hope the decision addresses the long-standing gender undervaluation that we say has occurred and restores respect and dignity to the professions of nursing and midwifery.”
Ms Wilson said nurses in Victoria and Queensland were paid more than their NSW counterparts, which was why this state kept losing nurses, leading to staff shortages in hospitals that affected patients.
“The previous Liberal government froze wages, so we haven’t had a meaningful pay rise for 10 years,” she said.
“Health care is something that everyone needs at some point in their life, so you’d hope it would be valued, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.”
