By PEACE IJIYERA

 

INCREASING industrial action against the state government, allied health workers across Victoria took part in rolling rallies last week, demanding better pay and conditions.

From Latrobe Regional Health (LRH), around 50 allied health workers and members of the Victorian Allied Health Professionals Association (VAHPA) took part in the lunchtime rallies held on September 22 and 23 outside the hospital.

These workers included speech pathologists, physiotherapists, radiographers, social workers, prosthetists, orthotics and occupational therapists.

Disputes have been ongoing for over a year now, and the state government is yet to reach an agreement.

VAHPA members have escalated action, launching a campaign titled ‘4 Weeks to Fix It’. Failure to reach an agreement by the end of September will see allied health workers and VAHPA members hold a 24-hour strike this Thursday (October 1).

VAHPA delegate at LRH, Bess McDougall, said this is not a decision that is taken lightly.

“It’s really the last thing that we want to do because our jobs … are caring for and looking after patients and families and also our community.

“We don’t want to not be doing that, but we also don’t want to be undervalued, which we currently are.”

If a 24-hour strike were to occur, it would look like allied health expertise not being “as readily available as it normally is”, said Ms McDougall.

To avoid negatively impacting patient care, not all allied health workers would participate in the strikes.

United: LRH allied health workers held rolling rallies demanding better pay and conditions from state government
Photographs supplied

Allied health workers are looking for a pay increase of 36 per cent over three years. An offer was put forward a few months ago, but Ms McDougall says the offer was “so inadequate”

that it wasn’t even presented to members.

More than a financial boost, they’re also fighting for a fair workload balance.

“At the moment, we don’t have any safe workload balance mechanism written into our EBA (enterprise bargaining agreement). We’re also looking for … a restructure to our classification, so it makes career progression more attainable”.

VAHPA Secretary, Aneta Menkinoska, says the impacts are being felt by the workers and the community.

“We are seeing allied health community waitlists of over 50 weeks, hospital wards overrun due to staff shortages, increase in staff sick leave due to stress.”

“It’s not good enough. Our communities and clinicians deserve better,” she said.

With the state election looming, allied health workers are seeking a government that will deliver a “meaningful” offer.

“I think that our skills and expertise and contribution to the … public health system needs to be properly valued by whoever might win the election,” Ms McDougall said.

*At the time of publication, an offer had not been announced.