NSW Nurses and Midwives Association (NSWNMA) delegate Daniel Mackay is a third generation nurse but his daughters will not be following in his footsteps. Login or signup to continue reading They have seen that the job is just too hard for the little money they'd get in return, he says. "When I started working, it was a career where you could go to work and bring home enough money to provide for your family, you can't do that anymore," Mr Mackay said.
An ICU nurse, Mr Mackay joined the stop work action outside the John Hunter Hospital (JHH) on Monday August 26 to fight for a 15 per cent pay increase. NSWNMA union members from 100 hospitals across the state will walk off the job this week to demand better pay and support from the government. Mr Mackay said working as a nurse meant long shifts, often overtime, short-staffed hospitals and low pay.
He said the government would also not budge on other requests such as consecutive days off. "It is absolutely disgusting that they're being denied this," he said. "I think now it's just discrimination against women.
It is purely that. It's because they see a workforce that is full of women, and they just believe that the women should go back to work," he said. NSWNMA branch secretary for JHH Linda Mobbs said there were 10 previous negotiations attempts but the government had not met union demands including pay, staff to patient ratios, and sick leave.
"We've got nurses who are trying to live in 2024 and getting paid a 2008 rate," Ms Mob.