Nurses across NSW hospitals to strike next week amid ongoing train disruptions

Nurses and midwives across New South Wales hospitals will strike next week for the third time this year over staffing levels and pay.

The NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association’s general secretary, Shaye Candish, said nurses will walk off the job – while maintaining life-preserving measures – for 24 hours on 1 September.

“This is in direct response to the government’s inaction,” Candish said on Wednesday.

The union wants one nurse for every four patients to ensure the system is not overstretched and patients receive the best care.

Nurses had put their own health and lives on the line for the community, Candish said.

“All they want to do is provide safe patient care and their inability to do that is actually making their job impossible,” she said.

“Frustrated” nurses and midwives were also demanding a 7% pay rise to keep up with the rising cost of living, and that “recognises the value” of their labour.

That’s more than double the government’s public sector wage increase cap of 3%.

Some surgical procedures could be delayed, but efforts would be made to ensure life-saving surgeries proceed, Candish said.

The NSW premier, Dominic Perrottet, said on Wednesday the government had invested more than any other state in building and upgrading hospitals over the last decade.

But Candish said the government has not been “open at all” to negotiating over urgently needed staffing.

“This health system will look fundamentally different if we don’t see the government making real and genuine investment in nurse and midwives workforces,” she said.

The planned strike comes amid ongoing industrial action by the state’s rail union.

Perrottet said he was briefed on the dispute, which revolves around the government’s new intercity fleet, on Tuesday night.

“My understanding is there could be some positive developments today,” he said.

The Rail, Tram and Bus Union’s secretary, Alex Claassens, said progress had been made on a deal guaranteeing changes to a fleet of Korean-built trains, which the union says aren’t currently safe to operate.

He expected to be presented with a deed shortly, which will be reviewed by the union’s lawyers and delegates.

“At that point, I suppose they will legitimately be able to say to me, ‘can you look at postponing your industrial action?’” he said Wednesday.

That will take at least 48 hours, meaning Thursday’s planned strike for workers on the City Circle and Redfern station will go ahead.

Suburban trains will run to a reduced timetable on Thursday, with workers coming from other parts of the network to plug gaps left by striking colleagues.

The government could head off more action planned for next Wednesday, when drivers will refuse to operate overseas-built trains, if it gets the union a deed by the end of the week.

Perrottet said the government has committed to making changes to the fleet, although he continues to maintain they aren’t necessary.

Claassens said the union had no reason to take him at his word.



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