NSW Don't miss out on the headlines from NSW. Followed categories will be added to My News. NSW nurses and midwives have had enough – and it’s not just those in the public health sector.
Ramsay Health Care nurses and midwives from Baringa Private Hospital and Port Macquarie Private Hospital joined statewide strike action in Coffs Harbour on Thursday, taking aim at its CEO for what they say is an outrageous salary in contrast to their take-home pay. Members of the Nursing and Midwives Association NSW (NSWNMA) from 14 NSW hospitals took part in the protected industrial action for better pay and staff to patient ratios. Thursday is the latest in a long line of protests which have taken place in both northern NSW and on the Mid-North Coast in recent months.
After 18 months of negotiations with Ramsay Health Care, NSWNMA members are steadfast in their commitment to fight for better conditions. Baringa Private Hospital NSWNMA branch secretary Alison Bradshaw said she was fed up with “chronic underpayments of nurses that don’t even match their Queensland counterparts”. Ramsay Healthcare nurses rally on the Coffs Harbour Pacific Highway calling for better pay and conditions.
“Our colleagues in Queensland who are also employed by the exact same multimillion-dollar company are paid 14 per cent more than we are for doing the same job in a different state,” Ms Bradshaw said. “Ramsay’s philosophy is people caring for people — well they’re not. “They’re people car.