Herald Sun, November 13, 2007 Victoria's blood bank nurses will begin
industrial action next week as they ramp up their campaign for better
pay and conditions. Australian Red Cross Blood Service (ARCBS) nurses
across metropolitan and regional Victoria today voted to take protected
industrial action from Tuesday week. The action is in response to ARCBS
management's proposal to remove senior and experienced nursing
positions and cut existing entitlements, the nurses union says. The
action comes after the Victorian government last month resolved a
protracted industrial dispute - that peaked in nine days of work bans -
with the state's general and aged care nurses. ... More

The Australian, November 13, 2007 Planned industrial action by
Victoria's house-call nurses has been abandoned following an 11-hour
vote. Royal District Nursing Service (RDNS) nurses this afternoon
agreed to call off their industrial action, due to start tomorrow. The
nurses have accepted a new Enterprise Bargaining Agreement (EBA) that
is on par with new public sector rates. The nurses union said the deal
also preserved career structures and ensured clients would only receive
nursing and clinical care from registered nurses. ... Nurses

ANF Victoria, November 13, 2007 Royal District Nursing Service nurses
have voted this afternoon to call off their industrial action due to
start tomorrow and accept a new agreement that includes parity with the
new public sector rates, preserves their career structure and ensures
clients will only receive nursing and clinical care from registered
nurses. RDNS nurses voted last week to take lawful industrial action
from Wednesday 14 November in a bid to resolve a stalemate in
negotiations over five key issues including: the introduction of
personal care workers, workload management, a cap on the number of
Division 2 nurses, weekend contact nursing positions and the

Phil Cleary, ETU Southern States Branch, November 2, 2007 No one who
attended the Australian Nurses Federation meeting at Festival Hall
could have failed to be moved. With deep and passionate support from
unionists across the state the entry of nurses was reminiscent of
scenes during the dockside battle a decade ago. To relive scenes from
the ANF meeting and hear from the nurses, go to The Spark podcast,
which can be found here ... Nurses

Victorian Trades Hall Council, November 1, 2007 Victorian nurses have
successfully stood up to the State Government and won significantly in
their campaign to protect and improve nurse/patient ratios and have
achieved competitive wage increases that will ensure nurses stay in the
State. After nine days of industrial action more than 5000 public
sector nurses accepted a new agreement that maintains nurse/patient
ratios, as well as improving nurse/patient ratios in areas under
pressure such as emergency departments and post- and ante-natal areas. ... Congratulations

Michaela Farrington, Geelong Advertiser, November 1, 2007 Barwon Health
nurses are furious their wages have been docked about $230 for each day
they took part in industrial action. Barwon Health yesterday said
it had no choice but to dock nurses' pay under the Federal Government's
Work Choices laws, despite admitting the bans had minimal impact on
health care. Barwon Health yesterday could not confirm how many nurses
had their pay docked but district nurse Joan Leaming said she and many
of her colleagues opened their fortnightly pay-packet to discover they
had lost hundreds of dollars in wages. ... Barwon

Australian Nursing Federation (Victorian Branch), October 31, 2007
Royal District Nursing Service nurses have voted this afternoon to
delay taking protected industrial action to allow further talks to
finalise an in principle agreement between the Australian Nursing
Federation (Victorian Branch) and RDNS management for new wages and
working conditions. The Melbourne metropolitan RDNS nurses will meet
again on Wednesday, 7 November 2007 to consider a new agreement or
discuss taking industrial action if an agreement has not been reached.
... Royal

Rick Wallace, Australian, October 26, 2007 Victorian hospitals are
expected to return to normal today after a last-minute deal was struck
to employ an extra 500 nurses and increase nursing pay by up to 6 per
cent a year. Nurses had closed up to 1200 beds in the public hospital
system in a bitter dispute over wages and conditions that saw many
workers' pay docked. As foreshadowed in The Australian, a compromise
was struck in the dispute and a $600 million deal put together just an
hour before a meeting of 5000 nurses yesterday. Talks will continue
between the state Government and the Australian Nursing Federation over
ways to repay nurses ... 500

Herald Sun Editorial, October 26, 2007 The compromise which yesterday
ended the nurses dispute is welcome but is another bandage for
Victoria's struggling public hospital system. It came as the Australian
Medical Association reported Victoria has sunk to the national bottom
of state averages for recurrent hospital funding. On the surface the
deal appears to preserve State Government policy of capping pay rises
at 3.25 per cent. But as with the recent police pay deal, a closer look
reveals most of the 25,000 public sector nurses will receive better
rises. The base rise falls below the 6 per cent they sought to gain
parity with best-paid interstate nurses ... Nurse

John Masanauskas, Grant McArthur & Ellen Whinnett, Herald Sun,
October 26, 2007 Up to 500 extra nurses will be hired by Victorian
hospitals under a $600 million pay deal that has ended the crippling
health dispute. The state's 29,000 public sector nurses will get a 3.25
per cent annual base wage rise over four years, but some staff will
receive at least 6 per cent through a new salary structure and
productivity gains. Hard-won nurse-patient ratios will remain largely
unchanged, although extra staff have been promised for emergency
departments. A mass meeting of nurses at Festival Hall yesterday
unanimously approved the deal ... Nurses

Australian Nursing Federation (Victorian Branch), October 25, 2007 An
offer ANF was prepared to recommend to its members was reached at 1 PM
today. More information will be available tomorrow for members. After
nine days of industrial action more than 5000 public sector nurses have
accepted a new agreement that maintains nurse patient ratios and
improves nurse patient ratios in areas under pressure such as emergency
departments and post- and ante-natal areas. It has also been agreed
that additional nurses will be employed in other areas under pressure
in the Victorian health system such as aged care, palliative, geriatric
evaluation (GEM) and management and smaller country hospitals. ... Nurse

ACTU, October 25, 2007 The ACTU has congratulated Victorian nurses and
the ANF for winning fair wages and improving quality care for patients
despite the obstacles posed by the Howard Government’s WorkChoices IR
laws. Six thousand nurses met this afternoon to accept a collective
agreement negotiated by their union, which includes an extra 500 nurses
into the workforce and better pay and conditions. ... Nurses

ABC News, October 25, 2007 Victorian nurses have voted to accept the
State Government's pay offer and will end work bans that have disrupted
hospitals for the last nine days. There were cheers and applause as
thouands of nurses voted to accept the deal. The agreement gives nurses
a pay increase of between 3.8 and 6 per cent a year over four years.
The Australian Nursing Federation's Secretary Lisa Fitzpatrick told the
meeting an extra 500 new nursing positions will be created and nurse
patient ratios will be maintained. She says the deal would never have
been reached without the industrial action. ... Vic

John Masanauskas & Grant McArthur, Herald Sun, October 25, 2007 A
new wage agreement for Victoria's public hospital nurses is a win for
patients and consistent with government pay policy, Health Minister
Daniel Andrews says. Mr Andrews said nurses, overall, would receive an
annual 3.25 per cent wage increase. However, the Australian Nursing
Federation (ANF) said the deal would give nurses a pay rise of between
3.8 per cent and the six per cent they were seeking. Mr Andrews agreed
some nurses would be better off. ... Nurses

ABC News, October 25, 2007 Victorian hospitals are waiting to hear if
the Federal Court will intervene in the nurses dispute. The industrial
action has entered its ninth consecutive day. The Australian Nursing
Federation (ANF) will meet with its members today to discuss the
ongoing negotiations with hospital management over pay and conditions.
But the industrial action could soon be over if the Federal Court
enforces an Industrial Relations Commission (IRC) order to lift the
work bans. A decision is expected later today. Questions on whether the
IRC has the power to make a ruling on the main sticking point, the
nurse-patient ratios, have been raised in court. ... Federal