SYDNEY — Chanting, singing and dancing, up to 2,000 nurses and midwives rallied outside the office of New South Wales state Premier Christopher Minns in Kogarah here Sept. 10. Hundreds also rallied in Parramatta, as well as in other cities around the state. Their 12-hour strike pressed demands for a new contract, an immediate 15% wage increase, reduced hours and more staffing.
They work in public hospitals run by the New South Wales government. They say the wage increase is needed to put pay levels on a par with neighboring states. But the NSW government is offering only a 10.5% increase spread over three years. “One, two three, four, we need more in ’24,” they chanted.
Inflation is “killing me and everybody I know,” one nurse told Minns on the radio. “And then they ask us to do more shifts. We’re so exhausted.”
The Nurses and Midwives’ Association refused to call off the strike despite being ordered to do so the day before by the Industrial Relations Commission. Further strikes and protests are planned.