By Hamish Heardand Candice Boyle
STRIKING nurses at Western Health hospitals yesterday (Monday) stood defiant in the face of an Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) threat that offered them a choice between hefty fines or a return to work.
The nurses last week mounted strike action as part of a statewide push for more pay that closed 42 of 600 beds at the Western, Williamstown and Sunshine hospitals.
The work bans were set to fail on the weekend after AIRC upheld a request by the Brumby Government to use Work Choices laws to fine striking staff unless they were back at work by 7am yesterday.
But Australian Nursing Federation (ANF) secretary Lisa Fitzpatrick said the threat would not halt the bans.
“The bans remain in place,” she said.
“These orders will not resolve the dispute and will be seen by nurses as further harrassment and intimidation and will only steel their determination.”
Patients waiting for surgery to treat non-urgent aliments, including infected tonsils and cataracts, were turned away from the three hospitals after their operations were cancelled due to the strike.
More than 150 Western Health nurses last week attended an ANF meeting to discuss possible management threats and bullying of nurses involved in the industrial action.
But Western Health public affairs manager Anne Learmonth said there were no reports of bullying or intimidation towards striking nurses last week.
The ANF bans were rolled out across public hospitals at 7am last Wednesday, with nurses closing one in four beds in most areas of the hospitals as patients were checked out.
Ms Learmonth said the bans had affected Western Health’s three hospitals evenly.
“Not all our nurses are members of the union and not all of those who are members are striking, but the numbers change with every shift,” she said.
The strike followed 4000 Victorian public sector nurses voting unanimously to pressure the Brumby Government into improving wages and addressing understaffing in public hospitals.
Ms Learmonth said she was hopeful of a resolution “as soon as possible for the sake of all parties”.
She said patients had been “understanding” when told their surgery had been cancelled.
“Patents need to be reassured that their care is our foremost thought,” she said.
Negotiations between nurses and the AIRC began on Saturday and are expected to continue until ANF members meet on Thursday.
