Latest news with #QueenslandNursesandMidwives'Union
Sydney Morning Herald
27-05-2025
- Health
- Sydney Morning Herald
Queensland nurses vote to strike for first time in decades
Thousands of nurses and midwives have voted to strike for the first time in 20 years, saying promised 'nation-leading' wage increases never transpired. More than 96 per cent of Queensland Nurses and Midwives' Union members voted in favour of protected industrial action as a stoush with the state government escalated. The 50,000-strong union is demanding the Queensland government follow through on its 2024 election commitment of 'nation-leading' wages for the health workforce. The state government's public sector wages offer is 3 per cent in April 2025, 2.5 per cent in April 2026 and 2027, and an extra 3 per cent in December 2027. The union said 66.7 per cent of nurses and midwives would be paid less than their Victorian counterparts by the end of the agreement. It is demanding the current offer be increased. But Health Minister Tim Nicholls said the department's pay offer 'meets the commitment in relation to nation-leading wages and conditions'. 'It will see an 11 per cent increase in nurses' and midwives' wages over the three-year length of the term and, for example, a registered nurse at position 5.5 [will be] paid substantially more, I think, in the region of about $25,000 more, over the term of the agreement than their Victorian counterpart.'
The Age
27-05-2025
- Health
- The Age
Queensland nurses vote to strike for first time in decades
Thousands of nurses and midwives have voted to strike for the first time in 20 years, saying promised 'nation-leading' wage increases never transpired. More than 96 per cent of Queensland Nurses and Midwives' Union members voted in favour of protected industrial action as a stoush with the state government escalated. The 50,000-strong union is demanding the Queensland government follow through on its 2024 election commitment of 'nation-leading' wages for the health workforce. The state government's public sector wages offer is 3 per cent in April 2025, 2.5 per cent in April 2026 and 2027, and an extra 3 per cent in December 2027. The union said 66.7 per cent of nurses and midwives would be paid less than their Victorian counterparts by the end of the agreement. It is demanding the current offer be increased. But Health Minister Tim Nicholls said the department's pay offer 'meets the commitment in relation to nation-leading wages and conditions'. 'It will see an 11 per cent increase in nurses' and midwives' wages over the three-year length of the term and, for example, a registered nurse at position 5.5 [will be] paid substantially more, I think, in the region of about $25,000 more, over the term of the agreement than their Victorian counterpart.'
Perth Now
27-05-2025
- Health
- Perth Now
Nurses vote to strike for first time in decades
Thousands of nurses and midwives have voted to strike for the first time in 20 years, saying promised "nation-leading" wage increases never transpired. More than 96 per cent of Queensland Nurses and Midwives' Union members voted in favour of protected industrial action as a stoush with the state government escalated. The 50,000-strong union is demanding the Queensland government follow through on its 2024 election commitment of "nation-leading" wages for the health workforce. The state government's public sector wages offer is currently three per cent in April 2025, 2.5 per cent in April 2026 and 2027, and an extra three per cent in December 2027. The union said 66.7 per cent of nurses and midwives would be paid less than their Victorian counterparts by the end of the agreement. It is demanding that the current offer be increased. The union also wants the agreement to address gender pay equity and a workforce shortage as well as provide a career pipeline for nurse practitioners. Strike action could include union members wearing t-shirts to promote better pay, work stoppages, bed closures and reduced services. "This overwhelming 'yes' vote for protective industrial action in the face of threats and the removal of rights highlights the collective strength of public nurses and midwives state-wide," union secretary Sarah Beaman said on Tuesday. The industrial action proposal follows Queensland Health offering a revised enterprise agreement with the union late on Friday. The union said it included some changes such as increased overtime rates for shift workers in future, permanent night shifts and more support for managers. However, the offer did not include the "nation-leading" wage increase the union is seeking, nor did it remove clauses that allow a reduction in entitlements like parental leave and flexible working arrangements. "Under this offer, there are still too many unanswered questions and missing commitments," Ms Beaman said. "The important working conditions and rights of public nurses and midwives also remain at risk." The fight for better pay has turned sour as Ms Beaman accused Queensland Health of threatening to strip nurses and midwives of a promised eight weeks' back pay if they entered the industrial action ballot. A spokesperson for Health Minister Tim Nicholls did not comment on accusations of the department stripping the back pay offer or future negotiations. "The Crisafulli government is committed to supporting our valued nursing and midwifery workforce - this includes making Queensland Health an employer of choice," the spokesperson said in a statement. The union was set to lodge industrial action paperwork with the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission on Tuesday.
West Australian
27-05-2025
- Health
- West Australian
Nurses vote to strike for first time in decades
Thousands of nurses and midwives have voted to strike for the first time in 20 years, saying promised "nation-leading" wage increases never transpired. More than 96 per cent of Queensland Nurses and Midwives' Union members voted in favour of protected industrial action as a stoush with the state government escalated. The 50,000-strong union is demanding the Queensland government follow through on its 2024 election commitment of "nation-leading" wages for the health workforce. The state government's public sector wages offer is currently three per cent in April 2025, 2.5 per cent in April 2026 and 2027, and an extra three per cent in December 2027. The union said 66.7 per cent of nurses and midwives would be paid less than their Victorian counterparts by the end of the agreement. It is demanding that the current offer be increased. The union also wants the agreement to address gender pay equity and a workforce shortage as well as provide a career pipeline for nurse practitioners. Strike action could include union members wearing t-shirts to promote better pay, work stoppages, bed closures and reduced services. "This overwhelming 'yes' vote for protective industrial action in the face of threats and the removal of rights highlights the collective strength of public nurses and midwives state-wide," union secretary Sarah Beaman said on Tuesday. The industrial action proposal follows Queensland Health offering a revised enterprise agreement with the union late on Friday. The union said it included some changes such as increased overtime rates for shift workers in future, permanent night shifts and more support for managers. However, the offer did not include the "nation-leading" wage increase the union is seeking, nor did it remove clauses that allow a reduction in entitlements like parental leave and flexible working arrangements. "Under this offer, there are still too many unanswered questions and missing commitments," Ms Beaman said. "The important working conditions and rights of public nurses and midwives also remain at risk." The fight for better pay has turned sour as Ms Beaman accused Queensland Health of threatening to strip nurses and midwives of a promised eight weeks' back pay if they entered the industrial action ballot. A spokesperson for Health Minister Tim Nicholls did not comment on accusations of the department stripping the back pay offer or future negotiations. "The Crisafulli government is committed to supporting our valued nursing and midwifery workforce - this includes making Queensland Health an employer of choice," the spokesperson said in a statement. The union was set to lodge industrial action paperwork with the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission on Tuesday.
The Guardian
05-05-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
Queensland unions predict ‘hell of a bloody fight' if LNP attacks nurses' right to strike
The Queensland union movement has warned the state's conservative government it will be in for a 'hell of a bloody fight' if it pursues threats to strip nurses and midwives of backpay should they enact their legal right to strike. A pay dispute between the LNP government and the Queensland Nurses and Midwives' Union (QNMU) is ongoing after their previous enterprise agreement expired on 31 March. QNMU secretary, Sarah Beaman, said it had rejected the government's latest offer for a new agreement, which included an offer to backdate wage increases on the condition nurses and midwives do not undertake protected industrial action in May. Speaking in front of St John's Cathedral in Brisbane amid the city's Labour Day march on Monday, the Queensland Council of Unions general secretary, Jacqueline King, said government officials had 'put those proposals on the table' amid pay negotiations with nurses and midwives. 'If the LNP government wants to attack the rights of workers to strike, then we will have that discussion and we will have that debate with them,' King said. 'It is the right of every worker in Australia to take protective industrial action … and if the government seeks to change the laws on that, they'll have a hell of a bloody fight on their hands'. The dispute comes as the QNMU seeks to hold the premier, David Crisafulli, to his commitment to maintain nation-leading salaries and conditions for public sector nurses and midwives. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email While Beaman said the offered wage increase of 3% in the first year, 2.5% in the second year and 2.5% in the third year was 'an improvement', she maintained it would 'not achieve nation-leading wages by the end of the agreement for a majority of nurses and midwives'. 'We also hold significant concerns that Queensland Health is proposing to remove or lessen many existing conditions,' Beaman said. King said the standoff may be a sign of things to come. 'Teachers, police, firefighters [agreements] are up at the end of June, and then there is a whole raft of other workers that will follow from there, all the way through to September,' the union leader said. Sign up to Afternoon Update: Election 2025 Our Australian afternoon update breaks down the key election campaign stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion 'If this is the first part of their offer and this is their counter-offer … then it doesn't bode well for the rest of the sector.' King said more than 260,000 workers would be affected as bargaining ramps up across the state, with public sector unions rejecting the Crisafulli government's wage rise of 2.67% per annum for the next three years as 'low-ball wage rises'. The Queensland health and ambulance services minister, Tim Nicholls, did not respond directly to the QNMU's claims of threats against industrial action, but said the government was acting 'in good faith'. 'The Crisafulli government is committed to delivering nation-leading wages and conditions for Queensland's nurses and midwives as part of healing the Queensland health crisis and with our offer on the table we continue to engage in good faith to reach an agreement,' he said.
