Nurses are on strike despite a recommendation to accept an interim pay rise and continue negotiating, with public rallies planned as they call for pay rises. or signup to continue reading The 24-hour stop-work action by nurses and midwives on Tuesday will affect elective surgery and cause delays for some patients, while support for life-saving care is not expected to be impacted. The government had not made a genuine attempt to negotiate on pay and conditions, NSW Nurses and Midwives general secretary Shaye Candish said.
"The state government could have stopped this industrial action from occurring by coming to the table with an improved offer, but it has chosen to ignore us repeatedly," Ms Candish said in a statement on Tuesday. "Nurses and midwives are outraged by the government's unwillingness to negotiate beyond its insulting three per cent offer, especially since we found the savings to fund the pay rise," she said. Industrial Relations Commission president Ingmar Taylor had not yet examined the union's argument for pay rises, but an interim deal and four weeks of "intensive discussions" in a bid to broker a deal.
Health Minister Ryan Park said officials had sought to contact patients with surgery scheduled to make alternative arrangements due to the industrial action. "I acknowledge the dispute between the government and the association has a way to go," he said on Monday. The NSW Nurses and Midwives Association action started at 7am in the union's second major stop-wor.
