Nurses pay dispute ends

A nine-month pay dispute was settled between Victorian nurses and the government, with negotiations reaching increases of up to 21%.

Australian Nursing Federation (ANF) state secretary, Lisa Fitzpatrick (featured), told a packed meeting of nurses and midwives in Melbourne last Friday (16 March 2012) the final outcome was “much more” than expected.

The resolution will include pay increases of between 14% and 21% over four years, no health assistants or split shifts and maintenance of nurse-patient ratios, which was described as one of the sticking points in the dispute.

The government and the ANF and employer group Victorian Hospitals Industrial Association had committed to reaching an outcome by last Friday, with negotiations taking place under the watch of an independent Fair Work Australia (FWA) tribunal member.

Council on the Ageing Victorian branch chief executive, Sue Hendy, told DPS News nurses provided “essential services” to the community.

“Given older people represent about 50% of hospital patients, [nurses are] very important to the quality of services to older people in hospital. We look forward to seeing our hospital services back to the high quality they need to provide to our community,” she said.

The union had been seeking a pay rise of 18.5% over three years and eight months and maintenance of current nurse-to-patient ratios.

The government’s public sector wages policy is 2.5% annual pay rises, with any extra gains offset by productivity measures.

According to Ms Fitzpatrick, the ANF would return to Fair Work Australia  this Wednesday at 4pm, when she hoped the draft enterprise bargaining agreement would be signed off so it could then go out to members for a vote.

Stay tuned for a DPS News follow-up story in the next week. Share your thoughts on the outcome of last Friday’s pay increases negotiations. Do you think nurses deserve more? Leave a comment in the box below.