By PEACE IJIYERA
DECKED out in bright pink on Tuesday, January 20, a group of 11 healthcare workers and members of Health Workers Union (HWU) from Latrobe Regional Hospital (LRH) took an hour out of their day to demand extra pay for healthcare workers.
They stood in solidarity with about 10,000 other healthcare workers across Victoria, who were marching from the state’s Trades Hall to the doorstep of Premier Jacinta Allan’s office (1 Treasury Place, Melbourne).
The protest was in response to the state government’s failure to reach an agreement over fair wages and pay increases for healthcare workers. This dispute has been going on for 13 months.
Frustrated workers who walked off the job included admin staff, cleaners, kitchen staff, security guards, orderlies, theatre technicians, pharmacy and pathology workers.
Elective surgeries were halted and hospitals had limited access to beds and services while protests took place across the state.
As the workers at LRH went on strike outside the main hospital entrance, cars driving by beeped, occupants waved and gave ‘thumbs up’ in support.
Admin worker and team leader at LRH, Alica Hearn, recognises the importance of healthcare workers, and is calling on the government to do the same.
“A lot of departments would not be able to run without the support of all the admin, cleaners, kitchen staff and pathology. Without those people, we would not have a hospital to run,” she said.
Describing healthcare workers as “the backbone of doctors and nurses”, admin worker and HWU delegate Jemma Hearn, outlined the pay rise specifications, saying what healthcare workers are asking for is “not much”.
She said that healthcare workers are pushing to get an increase of 12 per cent over two years (six per cent each year) which would bump them up just over the inflation rate, which currently sits at 3.4 per cent.
“We’re really just asking for liveable wages so that we can meet the inflation rate that is occurring across the country,” she said.
“Currently, we’re not being met with that; we’re met with offers that are under and not meeting that standard.”
The last offer by the Allan government was 3.0 per cent, which was the least pay rise offered among the public sector workforce, with paramedics having an annual 8.25 per cent increase and a five per cent increase for police.
That rate, rejected by healthcare workers, was “not going to meet the inflation rate by any means”, Jemma said.
Protestors in Melbourne were originally meant to meet the Premier face-to-face during the opening of the highly anticipated Peninsula University Hospital in Frankston on Tuesday, January 20. But, in what healthcare workers are calling a “back door exit”, Ms Allan instead silently opened the hospital on the Sunday two days before to avoid the pink army.
Healthcare workers at LRH did not hesitate to call that move by the Allan government “cowardly” and “disgusting”.
“It saves her the confrontation … but it backfired, and now she has to deal with us more,” Jemma said.
HWU lead organiser Jake McGuinness added, “healthcare workers don’t want to be on strike, but the government has left them little choice.”
Mr McGuinness’s message was echoed by Alica, who says that the job of caring for patients and keeping the hospital running is the most important thing for healthcare workers.
“We don’t want to be doing this; we just want a fair offer,” she said.
“We want to be met with an agreement so that we can stop doing this [protesting], do our jobs to full capacity, and go back to doing everything the way that we usually do.”
Holding up signs and banners, protesters only had one message for the Premier: “Stop hiding from us and have a heart for healthcare workers”.
