The Guardian 7 November, 2007
Victorian nurses win
Victoria’s public hospital nurses have won a new agreement after toughing out a vicious attack by hospital administrations. In general wards the current nurse/patient ratios still remain, however the ratios will actually be improved in such areas as maternity wards and emergency departments, and other in areas where the workload ratios were too low. There is now scope to have local health agency committees to be established and to review workload management arrangements.
The Brumby Government wanted only a 3.25 percent wage increase for the nurses. The agreement delivers an increase of between 3.6 and 6.1 percent per year. The average Victorian bedside nurse will receive a 4.5 percent.
Nurses included a clause in the agreement expressing their "disgust at the unprecedented intimidation and harassment and the zealous utilisation of WorkChoices laws".
The Victorian Branch of the Australian Nursing Federation (ANF) sought the urgent intervention of the State Government to address hospital administrators’ unlawful implementation of docking public sector nurses’ pay under the WorkChoices laws.
ANF lawyers reviewed hundreds of examples of nurses who experienced financial hardship after having their wages unlawfully docked wages — including a Monash Medical Centre theatre nurse who was docked four hours pay for the day she was granted compassionate leave to attend the funeral of her 98-year-old mother.
Thousands of public sector nurses, who received their pay slip on either October 25 or October 31 in the current pay cycle, were docked pay for supporting or participating in the recent industrial action to secure competitive wages and improved nurse patient ratios.
Australian Nursing Federation (ANF) Victorian Branch Secretary Lisa Fitzpatrick said: "The hospital administrators’ application of the laws was a mess and we’re finding examples of nurses who were docked more hours than they actually worked and nurses who were on leave during the dispute who have had their wages docked".
She said the ANF believes all wages should be reimbursed because the hospital administrators’ application of the laws was profoundly flawed and littered with unlawful incidents that we can’t be confident that they’ve got it right at all in any of the cases.
"ANF lawyers are reviewing the application of WorkChoices and we will be seeking prosecutions where there have been breaches of the workplace laws," she said.
"We have met with and written to Health Minister Daniel Andrews providing him with no less than 25 scenarios that have occurred across the state where we believe the docking of nurses’ wages has been unlawful", she said.
Examples of pay docking breaches ANF has given to the Victorian Health Minister Daniel Andrews include:
A theatre nurse from Monash Medical Centre, Moorabbin campus who was on compassionate leave so she could attend the funeral of her 98-year-old mother was docked four hours pay. The same nurse was docked 16 hours when performing non-clinical work in theatre.
A nurse from Monash Medical Centre who was one hour into her eight-hour shift when she was assaulted by a patient. She was sent home via the hospital’s emergency department and was rewarded with 10 hours pay docked;
A nurse from Bayside Health, called in to work a double shift (i.e 7am to 9.30pm) due to a staff shortage, was docked the entire double shift.
Nurses have been docked for more hours than they worked. For example a nurse was docked 17.5 hours despite only working 16 hours after October 15 (stop work meeting was held on October 16 and bans were implemented on October 17) in that pay period.
The nurses’ campaign has secured the single biggest injection of additional nurses into Victoria’s public health system since they won nurse-patient ratios in 2000. The union says this means the community will have a safer health system, but that achievement has come at a very significant personal cost to nurses.
"Thank you to all of the people who have generously donated to our hardship fund, your support for the nurses and their campaign has been overwhelming during this extremely difficult time, but we need the donations to continue", Ms Fitzpatrick said.
Other examples of how nurses have been docked wages include:
Nurses have been docked for supposedly refusing to admit into beds when those beds were not closed due to industrial action, but due to management policy arising from staff shortages caused by a gastro outbreak;
Nurses who were approached by management who were read a directive and responded by saying that they would perform their normal work, but were docked anyway. (i.e. there was no follow up to determine if industrial action was being taken by that individual);
Nurses who performed their work normally, i.e. took their four patients for the day but were docked because they refused to admit a patient, which is normal based on workload;
Nurses who applied for leave to attend the October 16 meeting but leave was refused on the basis that VHIA had advised that all leave must be refused;
Nurses in emergency departments being asked "if they supported the bans" on 17 October 2007 (without being approached again) and being docked 37.5 hours pay, i.e. the duration of the pay period.