Stop-works at hospitals
Health workers at the State's biggest hospitals will walk off the job in rolling stoppages from next week, after the State Government failed to make a new pay offer.
Union members voted last week to give the Government until yesterday to make a revised offer, demanding a pay increase of more than the 2.75 per cent offered.
Health Services Union WA secretary Dan Hill said health workers were angry the Government had not budged, despite politicians recently getting a 3.8 per cent rise.
"Our members feel completely devalued by this Government and do not understand how it can grant doctors, nurses and support staff wage increases of around 4 per cent and then expect them to accept 2.75 per cent," he said.
Plans were under way for 12-hour stoppages, from 6am to 6pm, at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital on July 15 and Royal Perth on July 17, with other hospitals to follow.
"Our members see industrial action as a last resort, and they have not taken it in 13 years," Mr Hill said. "But they feel they have to stand up for an equal pay increase and refuse to be treated as second-class citizens in their workplaces."
The union expected some out- patient services and elective surgery would be cancelled but emergency services would be unaffected. Its members include physiotherapists, pharmacists and social workers.
