Staff petition Allity for fair pay, ratios

Inadequate staffing and unsafe workloads are commonplace, and nursing staff have not had a pay increase for more than two years.

NSWNMA members at aged care provider Allity came armed with a petition signed by more than 650 Allity employees when they met management to discuss a new enterprise agreement.

The petition called on the company to start bargaining for an agreement with a fair pay increase, staffto-resident ratios and improved conditions.

The agreement expired two years ago and Allity nursing staff have not had a pay increase since January 2021. Now, management is trying to push through a “rollover” agreement with minimal changes.

When this edition of The Lamp went to press, the company was offering a low 2 per cent annual pay rise backdated to January 2022.

The NSWNMA has served a log of claims on the company based on responses to a workplace survey conducted by the union.

“The survey revealed widespread workload issues across the company and showed members are desperate for a substantial pay increase to address the rising cost of living,” said NSWNMA Assistant National Secretary Michael Whaites.

The NSWNMA bargaining team negotiating with manage- ment includes four Allity union member leaders.

STAFF DON’T FEEL VALUED

One of the four, RN Lalita Bhandari, said she found strong support for a better agreement while collecting petition signatures from fellow workers.

“Almost everyone was very happy to sign the petition,” Lalita said.

“No-one is happy with a 2 per cent pay increase, and with the company offering nothing to improve staffing and to reduce our workloads.

“Staff think it’s unfair that the agreement expired long ago and it’s been so long since we had a pay rise.

“Staff feel they are never valued at Allity. For example, Allity did not even communicate with staff about the enterprise agreement expiring and the process of bargaining.

“Allity employees deserve more pay with better staffing. The workload is impossible for anyone to sustain – that is true for RNs, ENs and AiNs.

“I don’t think any of the staff will back down now. They know they can go and work somewhere else – in hospitality, for example –where the pay is higher.

“And people can see that the union is really fighting for our rights.”

Lalita said the NSWNMA bargaining team showed management a video of 22 nursing staff at Redleaf Manor Aged Care in Concord holding the 600 plus petitions signed by Allity staff outside the facility.

“The video showed manage-