Branch teamwork brings encouraging response to union pledge drive.

The NSW Government’s refusal to give nurses and midwives a pay rise greater than 4 per cent last year

sparked action by NSWNMA branch members  at  Belmont  Hospital in Lake Macquarie.

“With COVID-19, we went through something very significant, hard and traumatic, but the low pay increase showed that our premier and treasurer still could not see our worth,” said emergency nurse Sarah Howell.

She took on the role of branch delegate and assistant secretary early this year, joining other newly elected officials such as president Danika Weller, secretary Laura Ford, and vice president Leonie Brewer.

“We were furious about the 4 per cent and we all agreed we were not going to take it lying down,” Sarah said.

“We weren’t happy, and we could see our colleagues weren’t happy. We decided to get more active and try to make a difference.”

After years of strict wage caps, understaffing and heavy workloads, anger over the 4 per cent increase helped drive branch membership to a record high at Belmont, which has 128 beds.

Belmont branch officials recently collected over 200 signed pledges from nurses willing to take action in support of the union’s public health sector 15 per cent pay claim.

“Between the branch officials, we were able to cover all wards, as well as the drug and alcohol centre, which is located adjacent to the main hospital,” Sarah said.

“We have great teamwork among branch officials – we help each other out and we delegate to other people.

“We can go to them and ask if they are happy to distribute information to a particular ward. We might ask them to tell five people about an issue, and ask each of those five to tell five more people.

“We walked around the wards during our breaks and had conversations with whoever was in the tearooms. We also spoke with nurses as they changed shifts, and with people we ran into in the corridors.

“We asked people to consider taking on whatever action they felt comfortable doing.

“The big majority indicated they were up for taking action, from wearing a badge to going on strike.

“If you walk into our car park on any given day, you will see NSWNMA bumper stickers everywhere.”

“AWESOME” TURNOUTS AT BRANCH MEETINGS

Sarah said 42 members attended a recent monthly branch meeting in person, while many others joined online.

“It was an awesome turnout both in person and online. The result was 99 per cent of members voting for action, which shows there is a lot of fight and passion around the issue.

“A lot of members pointed to the recent pay rise (28.4 per cent over four years) won by nurses and midwives in Victoria.

“They fought and won and set a precedent for us in NSW. We feel it’s our turn now; if they can get a decent increase, so can we.”

“WE WANT MORE IN ’24”

The branch meeting decided to support the wearing of union scrub shirts and badges every day until the pay dispute is won.

“We will have another branch discussion very soon about our next
steps. We might ramp it up with kerbside rallies or join in an action across the LHD, like we did two years ago at Civic Park in Newcastle,” Sarah said.

The Belmont branch joined other branches in the Hunter New England LHD to kick off the public phase of the pay campaign.

This took the form of a lively protest at the second women’s State of Origin game played at Newcastle’s McDonald Jones Stadium.

“We advertised the event on our branch Facebook page and put up posters in the tea rooms, and we met at the park across the road from the stadium before the game,” Sarah said.

“As the crowd walked through the gates, we were on the side chanting, “We want more in 2024”, “Pay us fair” and “Stand up fight back”.

“It was torrential rain so we all wore blue union ponchos with the NSWNMA emblem. We had blue wigs and feather boas and lots of blue glitter.”

Belmont nurses carried placards with “Try” on one side and “Try Harder Treasurer” on the other – combining support for the NSW Sky Blues with a message for the state treasurer, Daniel Mookhey.

Sarah said the Belmont branch is welcoming a number of new nurses, including newly graduated nurses who recently joined the hospital.

“We will make them aware of what the branch can do for them – for example, advising them of benefits they are entitled to under the Award.

“Our experience as branch officials has given us the confidence and strength to support our nurses and midwives on a range of issues.”■