Nurses at Illawarra Hospitals will stop work to attend a statewide union meeting today, to discuss their response to the NSW government's health related budget commitments.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Nurses from Wollongong, Shellharbour, Shoalhaven, Milton-Ulladulla and Bulli Hospitals, as well as Illawarra Shoalhaven Mental Health Nurses and South Coast Community Nurses voted to stop work from 1pm to take part in a mass NSW Nurses and Midwives Association gathering.
Many will meet in Wollongong to listen to a broadcast out of Sydney Town Hall.
NSWNMA acting general secretary Shaye Candish said nurses did not believe the measures announced by Treasurer Matt Kean last week would address the nursing staffing crisis affecting the state's hospitals.
"There's widespread dissatisfaction amongst our members over the NSW government's refusal to even consider safe staffing ratios, what's been outlined in the budget, and serious transparency concerns about the announced workforce enhancements and regional incentives," she said.
NSWNMA acting assistant general secretary Michael Whaites said nurses were pushing for a widespread reform and shift by shift ratios.
"Until our members experience improvements to their workloads or witness meaningful changes to address workload fatigue, sadly, we'll continue to see nurses and midwives leaving NSW, or the profession all together," he said.
A NSW Health spokesperson said the government was continuing to engage in talks with the union and remained "committed to reaching a resolution in the best interests of our patients and our healthcare workers".
They said plans were in place to minimise disruption and maintain care today.
Meantime, NSW is in the middle of a week of industrial action with train drivers and teachers also calling for better pay and staffing.
Rail commuters have been warned to expect delays with action by The Rail, Tram and Bus Union starting on Tuesday with a go-slow, with train drivers limited to 60 km/h.
The action will escalate until Friday when drivers will refuse to drive foreign-built trains.
The union's NSW head Alex Claassens said without those trains the network would be reduced to about 30 per cent capacity.
The action is driven by safety concerns over a new fleet of Korean-built trains, which the union maintains need to be modified to keep passengers safe.
Transport Minister David Elliott says he is "open minded about the modifications so long as it doesn't cost taxpayers unnecessarily" and "so long as it doesn't void the warrant".
"At a time when the NSW economy is facing headwinds ... to unnecessarily spend money on modifying or making all the modifications that the union's asked for I think would be irresponsible," he told Sydney radio 2GB on Monday.
Public and Catholic school teachers across the state are also frustrated and will be striking for 24-hours on Thursday.
Teachers are calling for a pay rise to keep up with rising inflation as they grapple with unsustainable workloads and worsening staff shortages.
NSW Teachers Federation president Angelo Gavrielatos said internal Department of Education documents showed more than 1900 permanent teaching positions were vacant last month - 67 per cent higher than at the same time last year.
"We have children across NSW missing out every single day because of the teacher shortages, including those in Year 12 which is the most vital year of their schooling," he said.
Premier Dominic Perrottet said las tweek unions organising illegal strikes should cop steep penalties.
The government wants to impose maximum fines of up to $55,000 for the first day of illegal industrial action and $27,500 for each subsequent day.
Meanwhile, environmental group Blockade Australia's has also flagged a week of disruptive protests in Sydney, with 11 of the group arrested on Monday.
About 50 protesters marched north the city on Monday but they were blocked by a heavy police presence from gaining access to the Harbour Bridge - a previous target of the group.
One of the climate activists blocked access to the Harbour Tunnel with a car for about an hour, creating traffic chaos with queues stretching several kilometres.
- with Australian Associated Press
Kate McIlwain
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
