Overwhelming support for action

Stronger workplace organisation delivers upturn in membership activity.

At St Vincent’s Private Hospital (SVPH) in Darlinghurst, Sydney, support for industrial action among NSWNMA members was almost unanimous.

Of SVPH’s voting members, 96 per cent supported “an unlimited number of stoppages of work” of between 15 minutes and four hours while maintaining safe patient care.

“An unlimited number of periodic or indefinite bans” on overtime and a ban on domestic duties such as cleaning was approved by 98 per cent of voters.

During the historic one-hour strike on 22 December, about 200 members and supporters held a spirited rally at Green Park opposite the hospital.

“For SVPH this rally was unprecedented,” said Kate Westwood, a clinical nurse and secretary of the hospital’s NSWNMA branch.

“Many members came to the rally on their days off, from long service and annual leave. It was wonderful to see members bring their children to participate in this heartfelt event – it was very impressive.

“The strong ballot result and rally shows SVPH nurses have decided it is time to take action.

“Members are determined to stop the erosion of nurses’ working conditions and enable them to deliver the safe and excellent care our patients deserve.”

Kate said many senior nurses have left over the past year, leaving an increasingly junior and inexperienced workforce.

She said SVPH nurses lost valuable conditions in their 2019 enterprise bargaining negotiations “because we weren’t active enough at the workplace level.”

“We need incentives for retention, to reward experienced and senior clinical nurses. However, incentives such as the Magnet Recognition Program and some allowances have been removed.

“Magnet provided valuable education and professional pathways for nurses and promoted excellence in patient care. This benefited the entire organisation.

“It was an investment in the nursing workforce that helped to promote the hospital, recruit new grads and retain existing staff. We were the only private hospital in Australia to have it.

“Magnet contributed to a feeling of pride that our working conditions were superior to a lot of other hospitals. We don’t feel that way anymore.”

Determined To Address Workplace Issues

Kate added that all nurses are determined to address workplace issues in the current enterprise agreement bargaining process.

“Members have been forced to take action, as we can see that our hospital is really suffering as a result of poor staffing levels and reduced expertise.”

She credits the turnaround in membership activity to the work done to build up the branch and workplace organisation since mid-2021.

“We now have an NSWNMA representative in every hospital department.

“Department reps are responsible for keeping communication lines open between the individual departments and the branch executive.

“The strength of our organisation is having department reps talk to people individually, so they’re getting accurate information from people they know and trust.”

Kate says COVID has made it difficult to hold in-person meetings “but we’ve been able to use new technology to our advantage”.

“It’s always been difficult for nurses to leave their departments to attend branch meetings, even when we are not short staffed.

“But through Zoom, members can gather together in their breaks in the tea rooms, sharing a laptop, or participate via their phones.

“Our branch meetings used to attract a handful of people. Now we have more than 50 nurses coming to meetings in person or via Zoom.” n

Rush to sign action pledge

In the lead-up to the SVPH strike ballot, the NSWNMA branch asked staff to sign a form pledging to take action for ratios and fair pay. In just 10 days, NSWNMA members collected 1143 signed pledges from staff at SVPH and its sister hospital the Mater in North Sydney. Pledge forms were bundled and presented to hospital executives.

“The staff response was overwhelming,” said NSWNMA branch secretary Kate Westwood.

“It wasn’t just nurses who got involved. Doctors, surgeons, physios, radiographers, anaesthetists and receptionists were also keen to sign to show their support.

“SVPH is a hospital that prides itself on excellent care. This is why so many choose to work here.”

She said, however, that staff feel “disrespected and ignored” after St Vincent’s Hospital Australia (SVHA) failed to give a meaningful response to the NSWNMA’s log of claims for better working conditions, staff ratios and fair pay.

Kate described the current SVHA offer for a new enterprise agreement as a further erosion of earlier gains.

“The nurses of SVPH desperately want safe staffing and the support of SVHA to enable us to deliver the excellent care that SVPH prides itself on.

“We want shift-by-shift minimum staffing levels mandated and we urge SVHA to take action now and invest in the amazing nurses of SVPH.”