Nurses reject government pay deal, industrial action to continue

The ANMF reached an in-principle agreement with the state government on Friday May 17 after lengthy enterprise bargaining agreement negotiations but a statewide vote of members on Monday rejected the agreement.

Stage one industrial action, which includes wearing red union T-shirts at work, refusing to work overtime and not completing paperwork, have been in place since May 7 and on Friday members launched stage two actions which involved closing one in four beds and cancelling one in four planned surgeries.

Those measures were in place only a matter of hours before an in-principle agreement was reached, and were suspended until the Monday vote.

ANMF (Vic branch) secretary Lisa Fitzpatrick said there was significant agreement on most of the improvements but members wanted certainty over their pay rates during the life of the agreement.

There was also concern over the rates of increase for nurses working in aged care.

Part of the wage offer relied on the outcome of a Fair Work Commission aged care work value case which could lift wages 5.5 to 13 per cent, and nurses called for the government to commit to the 'relativities of the FWC case' into their new EBA.

The agreement, as was voted down, would guarantee a minimum six per cent wage increase in the first three months of the first year, with government wages policy and a further cash payment in the second year, plus wages policy in the third and fourth year.

Combined with the FWC outcome it could raise wages 18 to 23 per cent over four years.

The offer also included a range of significantly improved and new allowances and penalties designed to retain and grow a permanent nursing and midwifery workforce.

Ms Fitzpatrick said the union would take members' views back to the government for further negotiations.

Nurses will continue their stage one industrial action while stage two closures and cancellations have been suspended.