Political rant - but PLEASE read to support Victorian Nurses
So I don't normally get political in my LJ, but something that's pissing me off to no end at the moment is what the Baillieu Government is doing to Victorian Nurses.
For those of you who aren't familiar with Australian (or even Victorian) politics - Ted Bailieu (a.k.a Ted Fail-You) is the Victorian Premier who was voted in on December 3rd, 2010. As part of his election promises, he was going to open 800 new beds in his first term. To date, none of the 800 beds have been opened, and in actuality 1516 beds have been closed across the state.
So at the moment the nurses are making headlines across the media.
Headlines such as "NURSES IN PAY DISPUTE", "NURSES ON STRIKE", "NURSES WALKING OUT" and "NURSES PUTTING LIVES AT RISK" are flashing across our newspapers and TV screens. These headlines make me so mad because that is NOT what is happening, and the media are unfairly portraying this dispute as a financial one. It is not. This year isn't about money at all - it's about safety.
So to put it in perspective....Every 3 years nurses and nursing unions (of which there are 2 in Victoria - The Australian Nursing Federations Victoria Branch and the Health And Community Services Union) get together and work out their new enterprise bargaining agreement (EBA). Usually what happens is everyone rants back and forth for a few weeks and nurses walk away with something like a 9% pay increase over 3 years (given at increments of 3% a year - that just barely covers CPI). We started our 2011 EBA discussions in September, 2011 (I think) - and the situation is STILL unresolved now in March 2012.
This year, however, the focus is NOT on the money - it is on the proposed ridiculous changes that potentially WILL put the Victorian public and nurses themselves at risk.
Apart from the 9% increase that they're offering (I think it's 9% - I haven't even taken notice of the financial side of things)
Mr. Baillieu wants to
- cut the Nursing budget by $100,000,000 A YEAR
- 2.5% wage increase over 4 years
- abolish public holiday penalties for Nurses
- abolish overtime (and replace it with ordinary hours or time in lieu)
- abolish ANUM's/AUM's/Shift Managers (leaving no one in charge/responsible for each shift)
- change Professional Development Leave (only available for studies DIRECTLY related to current area of work)
- abolish Nurse : Patient ratios (there is currently 1 nurse : 4 patients in an acute ward, or 1 nurse : 8 patients overnight)
- change the length of nursing shifts / introduce split shifts (essentially a full-time 40hr week would mean working EVERY DAY)
- roster broken shifts (nurses can work 0700-0930 and then return to work on the SAME DAY from 1100-1530)
- alter the Nursing Skill Mix and introduce "Health Assistants" (which means they will decrease the numbers of Division 1 and Division 2 nurses and replace them with people who have completed a 12 week TAFE course).
What we are fighting for
- Improved nurse patient ratios (palliative care, ED's, residential aged care, rehabilitation and GEM units have low ratios)
- Introduce ratios in day surgery, dialysis, day oncology and stroke beds (these areas have minimum nursing numbers)
- Minimum mental health nurse patient profiles (mental health has no mandated minimum nursing numbers)
- Maintain our current stable 8:8:10 hour roster (rather than proposed split shifts, and 6hr shifts)
- Wages comparable to other states (most Victorian nurses and midwives are well behind their interstate colleagues)
- a SAFE Health Care System for Nurses and Patients
The Baillieu Government's demands will send the nursing professions back 40 years and are a recipe to create a critical nurse and midwife shortage. Given how hard most nurses study and train to become nurses, this is just insanity!
Registered Nurses undertake a minimum of three years of full-time study (Division 1 / Registered Nurses) or two years full time (Division 2 / Enrolled nurses). An unregistered "Health Assistant" does three months of part-time training - or even less.
I spent 3 years undertaking a Bacjelor of Nursing degree (plus a 4th Graduate Year), another year participating in a Post Graduate year. Another year on top of that doing a Post Graduate Certificate. Followed by another 14months to complete my Master of Nursing. All up - that's just over 6 years to finish my tertiary studies - and no, Ted Baiileu wants to replace me and my colleagues with 6-week TAFE-trained HEALTH ASSISTANTS!
So late last month after months of being stuck in a stalemate the ANF suggested that we show the Government that we wont back down by undertaking rolling work stoppages.
Nurses are NOT striking.
Basically what (BRAVE) nurses are doing is stopping work for 4 hours twice a day, and leaving wards staffed with the same amount of staff that Mr. Baillieu has proposed (which has lead to the above headlines that I mentioned) - but the Government isn't happy with this and has taken the ANF to the High Court of Australia in order to get us to STOP our action because they feel that staff being off the ward is leaving the ward at risk. WTF??
The important thing to note is that we are NOT striking and walking out and leaving our patients to die. We are simply showing the Government that their proposed staffing ratios WILL NOT WORK.
Last week the High Court ordered that the ANF STOP facilitating/arranging these walkouts or they would face HUGE fines and possible prison. The Government has also put a GAG ORDER in place preventing the ANF from using social media to keep nurses up to date (and to prevent the planning of stoppages). Ummm...hello...whatever happened to Freedom of Speech??
So every day for the last 2 weeks hundreds of brave nurses across the state have been participating in 4-hour work stoppages (one in the morning, and one in the everning)
Being a Mental Health nurse and a member of HACSU, we are not participating in stop-work action, but we are undertaking other union-supported industrial action/bans.
The brave ANF nurses are having their pays docked day in and day out.
At the end of their full-time fortnight, nurses are essentially taking home half of their pay - all to fight a cause to keep our patients and our community SAFE!!!
The courage and determination of these brave nurses is inspiring - day in, day out, amidst political bullying and threats of termination - they continue to wear their red and fight, Fight, FIGHT!
It's been 7 months since the 2011 Enterprise Bargaining began - and the Baillieu Government have dismissed our requests and have not budged on their proposal. If nurses lose and Baillieu has his way it wont just affect nurses. It will affect everyone in our community. Our Children. Our Parents. Us. Our Grandparents. ANYONE who has been or ever will be sick will feel this.
If the Baillieu government has its way this year, the wage bill for nurses in Victorian public hospitals will be cut by more than $100 million a year. The equivalent of 1758 full-time nurses will be stripped out of the system.
If you, or anyone you know has ever been unwell and required hospitalisation and nursing care - PLEASE http://www.anfvic.asn.au/ sign the petition and let Mr. Baillieu know that the Community supports its nurses.
Tomorrow a nurse will walk out and be docked 4 hours pay.
Tomorrow a nurse will walk out and risk a $6000 fine.
Tomorrow a nurse will walk out and risk going to jail.
And apparently it all about the money for nurses?
Nurses are doing this for YOU.
Nurses are doing this for YOUR family
Nurses are doing this for THEIR patients.
Nurses are doing this to maintain nurse patient ratios....
RESPECT OUR WORK.
#RespectOurWork
#RespectOurNurses
Anyway, that's enough from me for one day.
/end rant