Nurse Elizabeth McCall from Byron Central Branch calls on nurses and midwives not to give give up on their fight for fairer wages and conditions.

I have noticed there continues to be comments from members (not many, but they’re out there) asking what “the union” is doing about various issues, particularly regarding the wage freeze at the moment. I think it’s timely to remind everyone that we are all “the union”.

Yes, we have elected leaders and a body of paid employees working for us, tirelessly, I might add. However, the fact remains that the New South Wales Nurses and Midwives’ Association is just that – all of us. Historically, unions came about to improve the conditions of workers. This remains the case today. It needs everyone one of us to be active, out in our workplaces and communities, raising consciousness about the issues important to us – for example, nurse/midwife-to-patient ratios and fair rates of pay. The definitions of a union are:

• The action of joining together or the fact of being joined together, especially in a political context.
• A society or association formed by people with a common interest or purpose.

Both these definitions apply to us all. We need everyone committed and active to make sure the NSW government does not continue its current disrespectful behaviours towards our professions.

Now is not the time to give up. To do so is to play into the NSW government’s end game – that we’ll do just that: give up. They know how valuable we are and this year, like no other, has shown them that they can’t do without us.