❓ The Minister for Health outlines the progress of negotiations with the Australian Nursing Federation, announcing a finalized enterprise bargaining agreement including pay rises and improved working conditions for nurses in WA public hospitals.
AnsweredQoN 9Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
Can the minister outline the progress of negotiations with the Australian Nursing Federation over the nurses’ enterprise bargaining agreement? Mr J.A. McGINTY
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Wanneroo for some notice of this question. I am sure all members of this house will be delighted to know that yesterday the state government reached agreement with the Australian Nursing Federation on the pay and conditions for the state’s 12 000 public hospital nurses. Final endorsement can now be sought from nurses through a formal, union-backed ballot. The proposed agreement will ensure that Western Australian nurses remain among the best paid in the nation and will guarantee significant improvements to their working conditions. The proposed agreement contains all the recommendations which were made by the Australian Industrial Relations Commission in December last year and which were then supported by the government. This means that nurses will receive a 14.7 per cent pay rise, resulting in salary increases of between $4 769 and $13 781 over three years. This includes the 3.4 per cent increase already paid in May last year and additional payments of 1.8 per cent backdated to 1 July 2004, 4.3 per cent in July 2005 and 4.5 per cent in July 2006. This will give the average nurse a lump sum back payment to July last year of between $750 and $900 and will guarantee that nurses in Western Australia are among the highest paid in the country. In addition to salaries, the agreement also includes improvements to working conditions, such as increased night shift penalties from midnight Sunday to 7.30 Monday morning; longer paid parental leave, increasing from six to eight weeks; and more flexible leave arrangements. Additional improvements to conditions were negotiated post the election at no additional cost, and these include new job-sharing arrangements, the introduction into the agreement of a nurse practitioner classification and the restoration of the full definition of “shift worker”. These negotiations were difficult and protracted and, in hindsight, if we made a mistake during the course of the negotiations, it was to introduce an up-front goodwill payment of 3.4 per cent in May last year. This simply enabled the proceedings to be drawn out by the secretary of the ANF. It was also disappointing to see the Liberal Party during the course of the election campaign effectively hand to every union an invitation to come in and negotiate their enterprise bargaining agreements. That was highly irresponsible. Not a single employer in the state will thank the Liberal Party for that little effort. We resisted that for the very good reason that it was improper to do what the Liberal Party attempted to do during the course of an election campaign. I think the rational-thinking public in Western Australia has rejected that endeavour. This agreement also builds on this government’s election commitments made to nurses and other hospital staff during the election campaign. An amount of $110 million was committed to recruit 800 extra nurses into the WA public health system over the next four years; an amount of $6.6 million was committed to double the number of scholarships for nurses and midwives; and a promise was made to introduce a range of family-friendly initiatives, including the provision of childcare facilities in hospitals.
Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: I thank the member for Wanneroo for some notice of this question. I am sure all members of this house will be delighted to know that yesterday the state government reached agreement with the Australian Nursing Federation on the pay and conditions for the state’s 12 000 public hospital nurses. Final endorsement can now be sought from nurses through a formal, union-backed ballot. The proposed agreement will ensure that Western Australian nurses remain among the best paid in the nation and will guarantee significant improvements to their working conditions. The proposed agreement contains all the recommendations which were made by the Australian Industrial Relations Commission in December last year and which were then supported by the government. This means that nurses will receive a 14.7 per cent pay rise, resulting in salary increases of between $4 769 and $13 781 over three years. This includes the 3.4 per cent increase already paid in May last year and additional payments of 1.8 per cent backdated to 1 July 2004, 4.3 per cent in July 2005 and 4.5 per cent in July 2006. This will give the average nurse a lump sum back payment to July last year of between $750 and $900 and will guarantee that nurses in Western Australia are among the highest paid in the country. In addition to salaries, the agreement also includes improvements to working conditions, such as increased night shift penalties from midnight Sunday to 7.30 Monday morning; longer paid parental leave, increasing from six to eight weeks; and more flexible leave arrangements. Additional improvements to conditions were negotiated post the election at no additional cost, and these include new job-sharing arrangements, the introduction into the agreement of a nurse practitioner classification and the restoration of the full definition of “shift worker”. These negotiations were difficult and protracted and, in hindsight, if we made a mistake during the course of the negotiations, it was to introduce an up-front goodwill payment of 3.4 per cent in May last year. This simply enabled the proceedings to be drawn out by the secretary of the ANF. It was also disappointing to see the Liberal Party during the course of the election campaign effectively hand to every union an invitation to come in and negotiate their enterprise bargaining agreements. That was highly irresponsible. Not a single employer in the state will thank the Liberal Party for that little effort. We resisted that for the very good reason that it was improper to do what the Liberal Party attempted to do during the course of an election campaign. I think the rational-thinking public in Western Australia has rejected that endeavour. This agreement also builds on this government’s election commitments made to nurses and other hospital staff during the election campaign. An amount of $110 million was committed to recruit 800 extra nurses into the WA public health system over the next four years; an amount of $6.6 million was committed to double the number of scholarships for nurses and midwives; and a promise was made to introduce a range of family-friendly initiatives, including the provision of childcare facilities in hospitals.
I thank the member for Wanneroo for some notice of this question. I am sure all members of this house will be delighted to know that yesterday the state government reached agreement with the Australian Nursing Federation on the pay and conditions for the state’s 12 000 public hospital nurses. Final endorsement can now be sought from nurses through a formal, union-backed ballot. The proposed agreement will ensure that Western Australian nurses remain among the best paid in the nation and will guarantee significant improvements to their working conditions. The proposed agreement contains all the recommendations which were made by the Australian Industrial Relations Commission in December last year and which were then supported by the government. This means that nurses will receive a 14.7 per cent pay rise, resulting in salary increases of between $4 769 and $13 781 over three years. This includes the 3.4 per cent increase already paid in May last year and additional payments of 1.8 per cent backdated to 1 July 2004, 4.3 per cent in July 2005 and 4.5 per cent in July 2006. This will give the average nurse a lump sum back payment to July last year of between $750 and $900 and will guarantee that nurses in Western Australia are among the highest paid in the country. In addition to salaries, the agreement also includes improvements to working conditions, such as increased night shift penalties from midnight Sunday to 7.30 Monday morning; longer paid parental leave, increasing from six to eight weeks; and more flexible leave arrangements. Additional improvements to conditions were negotiated post the election at no additional cost, and these include new job-sharing arrangements, the introduction into the agreement of a nurse practitioner classification and the restoration of the full definition of “shift worker”. These negotiations were difficult and protracted and, in hindsight, if we made a mistake during the course of the negotiations, it was to introduce an up-front goodwill payment of 3.4 per cent in May last year. This simply enabled the proceedings to be drawn out by the secretary of the ANF. It was also disappointing to see the Liberal Party during the course of the election campaign effectively hand to every union an invitation to come in and negotiate their enterprise bargaining agreements. That was highly irresponsible. Not a single employer in the state will thank the Liberal Party for that little effort. We resisted that for the very good reason that it was improper to do what the Liberal Party attempted to do during the course of an election campaign. I think the rational-thinking public in Western Australia has rejected that endeavour. This agreement also builds on this government’s election commitments made to nurses and other hospital staff during the election campaign. An amount of $110 million was committed to recruit 800 extra nurses into the WA public health system over the next four years; an amount of $6.6 million was committed to double the number of scholarships for nurses and midwives; and a promise was made to introduce a range of family-friendly initiatives, including the provision of childcare facilities in hospitals.
These negotiations were difficult and protracted and, in hindsight, if we made a mistake during the course of the negotiations, it was to introduce an up-front goodwill payment of 3.4 per cent in May last year. This simply enabled the proceedings to be drawn out by the secretary of the ANF. It was also disappointing to see the Liberal Party during the course of the election campaign effectively hand to every union an invitation to come in and negotiate their enterprise bargaining agreements. That was highly irresponsible. Not a single employer in the state will thank the Liberal Party for that little effort. We resisted that for the very good reason that it was improper to do what the Liberal Party attempted to do during the course of an election campaign. I think the rational-thinking public in Western Australia has rejected that endeavour. This agreement also builds on this government’s election commitments made to nurses and other hospital staff during the election campaign. An amount of $110 million was committed to recruit 800 extra nurses into the WA public health system over the next four years; an amount of $6.6 million was committed to double the number of scholarships for nurses and midwives; and a promise was made to introduce a range of family-friendly initiatives, including the provision of childcare facilities in hospitals.
This agreement also builds on this government’s election commitments made to nurses and other hospital staff during the election campaign. An amount of $110 million was committed to recruit 800 extra nurses into the WA public health system over the next four years; an amount of $6.6 million was committed to double the number of scholarships for nurses and midwives; and a promise was made to introduce a range of family-friendly initiatives, including the provision of childcare facilities in hospitals.
Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: I thank the member for Wanneroo for some notice of this question. I am sure all members of this house will be delighted to know that yesterday the state government reached agreement with the Australian Nursing Federation on the pay and conditions for the state’s 12 000 public hospital nurses. Final endorsement can now be sought from nurses through a formal, union-backed ballot. The proposed agreement will ensure that Western Australian nurses remain among the best paid in the nation and will guarantee significant improvements to their working conditions. The proposed agreement contains all the recommendations which were made by the Australian Industrial Relations Commission in December last year and which were then supported by the government. This means that nurses will receive a 14.7 per cent pay rise, resulting in salary increases of between $4 769 and $13 781 over three years. This includes the 3.4 per cent increase already paid in May last year and additional payments of 1.8 per cent backdated to 1 July 2004, 4.3 per cent in July 2005 and 4.5 per cent in July 2006. This will give the average nurse a lump sum back payment to July last year of between $750 and $900 and will guarantee that nurses in Western Australia are among the highest paid in the country. In addition to salaries, the agreement also includes improvements to working conditions, such as increased night shift penalties from midnight Sunday to 7.30 Monday morning; longer paid parental leave, increasing from six to eight weeks; and more flexible leave arrangements. Additional improvements to conditions were negotiated post the election at no additional cost, and these include new job-sharing arrangements, the introduction into the agreement of a nurse practitioner classification and the restoration of the full definition of “shift worker”. These negotiations were difficult and protracted and, in hindsight, if we made a mistake during the course of the negotiations, it was to introduce an up-front goodwill payment of 3.4 per cent in May last year. This simply enabled the proceedings to be drawn out by the secretary of the ANF. It was also disappointing to see the Liberal Party during the course of the election campaign effectively hand to every union an invitation to come in and negotiate their enterprise bargaining agreements. That was highly irresponsible. Not a single employer in the state will thank the Liberal Party for that little effort. We resisted that for the very good reason that it was improper to do what the Liberal Party attempted to do during the course of an election campaign. I think the rational-thinking public in Western Australia has rejected that endeavour. This agreement also builds on this government’s election commitments made to nurses and other hospital staff during the election campaign. An amount of $110 million was committed to recruit 800 extra nurses into the WA public health system over the next four years; an amount of $6.6 million was committed to double the number of scholarships for nurses and midwives; and a promise was made to introduce a range of family-friendly initiatives, including the provision of childcare facilities in hospitals.
I thank the member for Wanneroo for some notice of this question. I am sure all members of this house will be delighted to know that yesterday the state government reached agreement with the Australian Nursing Federation on the pay and conditions for the state’s 12 000 public hospital nurses. Final endorsement can now be sought from nurses through a formal, union-backed ballot. The proposed agreement will ensure that Western Australian nurses remain among the best paid in the nation and will guarantee significant improvements to their working conditions. The proposed agreement contains all the recommendations which were made by the Australian Industrial Relations Commission in December last year and which were then supported by the government. This means that nurses will receive a 14.7 per cent pay rise, resulting in salary increases of between $4 769 and $13 781 over three years. This includes the 3.4 per cent increase already paid in May last year and additional payments of 1.8 per cent backdated to 1 July 2004, 4.3 per cent in July 2005 and 4.5 per cent in July 2006. This will give the average nurse a lump sum back payment to July last year of between $750 and $900 and will guarantee that nurses in Western Australia are among the highest paid in the country. In addition to salaries, the agreement also includes improvements to working conditions, such as increased night shift penalties from midnight Sunday to 7.30 Monday morning; longer paid parental leave, increasing from six to eight weeks; and more flexible leave arrangements. Additional improvements to conditions were negotiated post the election at no additional cost, and these include new job-sharing arrangements, the introduction into the agreement of a nurse practitioner classification and the restoration of the full definition of “shift worker”. These negotiations were difficult and protracted and, in hindsight, if we made a mistake during the course of the negotiations, it was to introduce an up-front goodwill payment of 3.4 per cent in May last year. This simply enabled the proceedings to be drawn out by the secretary of the ANF. It was also disappointing to see the Liberal Party during the course of the election campaign effectively hand to every union an invitation to come in and negotiate their enterprise bargaining agreements. That was highly irresponsible. Not a single employer in the state will thank the Liberal Party for that little effort. We resisted that for the very good reason that it was improper to do what the Liberal Party attempted to do during the course of an election campaign. I think the rational-thinking public in Western Australia has rejected that endeavour. This agreement also builds on this government’s election commitments made to nurses and other hospital staff during the election campaign. An amount of $110 million was committed to recruit 800 extra nurses into the WA public health system over the next four years; an amount of $6.6 million was committed to double the number of scholarships for nurses and midwives; and a promise was made to introduce a range of family-friendly initiatives, including the provision of childcare facilities in hospitals.
These negotiations were difficult and protracted and, in hindsight, if we made a mistake during the course of the negotiations, it was to introduce an up-front goodwill payment of 3.4 per cent in May last year. This simply enabled the proceedings to be drawn out by the secretary of the ANF. It was also disappointing to see the Liberal Party during the course of the election campaign effectively hand to every union an invitation to come in and negotiate their enterprise bargaining agreements. That was highly irresponsible. Not a single employer in the state will thank the Liberal Party for that little effort. We resisted that for the very good reason that it was improper to do what the Liberal Party attempted to do during the course of an election campaign. I think the rational-thinking public in Western Australia has rejected that endeavour. This agreement also builds on this government’s election commitments made to nurses and other hospital staff during the election campaign. An amount of $110 million was committed to recruit 800 extra nurses into the WA public health system over the next four years; an amount of $6.6 million was committed to double the number of scholarships for nurses and midwives; and a promise was made to introduce a range of family-friendly initiatives, including the provision of childcare facilities in hospitals.
This agreement also builds on this government’s election commitments made to nurses and other hospital staff during the election campaign. An amount of $110 million was committed to recruit 800 extra nurses into the WA public health system over the next four years; an amount of $6.6 million was committed to double the number of scholarships for nurses and midwives; and a promise was made to introduce a range of family-friendly initiatives, including the provision of childcare facilities in hospitals.
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