Nurses threaten stop work action over pay demands
Nurses and midwives have vowed to escalate industrial action if a state government does not come to the table with a better pay offer. Watch the video.
Nurses and midwives will stop answering phones, attending meetings and entering data if a state government does not deliver “nation-leading” wage increases.
Queensland’s Liberal National government has two days to meet the Nurses and Midwives Union’s demand for a 13 per cent pay rise over three years, otherwise industrial action will ramp up.
The 45,000-strong union members have been wearing pink for weeks as part of the first stage of industrial action to bargain for a better pay deal.
The state government has maintained its “nation-leading” offer of 11 per cent over three years, which includes three per cent in April 2025, 2.5 per cent in April 2026 and 2027, and an extra three per cent in December 2027.
But the union claims this leaves Queensland nurses and midwives no longer the best paid in the country for the first time in 15 years, with Victoria taking out the top gong.
“Falling behind looks like dangerous understaffing, longer wait times and increased adverse patient outcomes,” Queensland Nurses and Midwives’ Union secretary Sarah Beaman told reporters on Monday.
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“Falling behind looks like not having enough nurses and midwives to provide care, which will result in reduced access to free care where you live.”
The government has until Wednesday to respond to the union’s demands, otherwise the second stage of “disruptive” industrial action will begin from July 7.
This includes no longer making beds, refusing data entry and administration activities like answering phones or filing and not attending meetings.
Beaman has reassured the public that the action will not impact patient safety.
“As always, patient safety will remain paramount with our action,” she said.
The industrial action will continue until the state government comes to the table with a better pay offer, and could escalate if demands are not met.
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Further strike action would include notified and staggered job walk-offs.
Beaman said nurses and midwives are feeling “staggeringly disrespected” as months of pay negotiations fall short.
“You’ve got a government that is sitting there saying that it respects nurses and midwives, that it values nurses and midwives, yet not one of the items put forward by them actually walks that talk,” she said.
Treasurer David Janetzki said the government is continuing to negotiate in good faith with the state budget delivering a record $33 billion health infrastructure spend.
“There’s a nation-leading offer on the table,” he told reporters last Tuesday.
“Those negotiations are continuing, and we’ll continue to do the work.”
Beaman said the record infrastructure spend should have been allocated to deliver the government’s election commitment of nation-leading wages.
“The funding necessary to recruit and retain skilled humans to care for Queensland has not been appropriately allocated,” she said.
“Multi-billion-dollar health facilities without skilled staff are like a car without an engine.”
