Premier called out live on air by frustrated nurse: 'It's not safe'
NSW nurses and midwives walked off the job on Tuesday for 12 hours, after demands for a 15 per cent rise were rejected by the Minns government.
NSW Premier Chris Minns copped a spray on live radio on Tuesday after he was confronted by an exhausted nurse who demanded higher wages and warned that she, like many of her colleagues in hospitals, are at breaking point.
The premier faced tough questions from the healthcare worker this morning over proposed pay increases that were knocked back earlier this year. In response, NSW nurses and midwives walked off the job on Tuesday, striking for 12 hours after demands for a 15-per cent rise were rejected.
Defending the his government's stance on the matter, Minns said it's simply not within the state budget to cater to a 15 per cent increase over three years — which he explained would equate to over $6.5 billion — that he said would open the flood gates for police, teachers and other public sector employees to come "knocking at my door".
"That's more than we spend on the entire police force in one year," Minns said.
Emotional exchange turns heated as nurse shares cost-of-living strain
The nurse, known as Jane, called in to 2GB's Ben Fordham show to voice her concerns.
The clearly emotional NSW nurse said she'll take to the streets today in protest, and implored the premier to come to the table with answers. "I am beyond exhausted, I am only doing this protest because we have no other avenue to go down," she said.
"It is about the money, but we have so many more important things that we have to fight for as well. It's not safe anymore — for nurses and for patients — you need to walk through a NSW hospital to see that for yourself."
Minns said in response: "we haven't done nothing". "We've worked really closely with the nurses association," he said. "There's been a 15-year campaign from the Nurses and Midwives Association for safe staffing levels in NSW hospitals — one nurses for three patients in the ED, and one nurse per four patients on the floor.
"We implemented it, it cost NSW tax payers $1 billion... we had to recruit 2,500 additional nurses."
Starting to make an additional point, Minns began: "I appreciate with inflation and interest rates very high a lot of nurses will say that's not good enough.." before he was cut off by Jane.
"You've got in wrong!" she exclaimed. "Inflation is killing us, it's killing me, it's killing everyone I know — it's the number one conversation in every tea room! And then they ask us to do more shifts, it's just, we are exhausted, we are so exhausted".
Solidarity with @nswnma members striking today. The health system and state run on the good will of some of the most selfless workers of NSW. The government must pay our nurses and midwives a decent living wage to keep them doing what they do best. pic.twitter.com/I29HEmRRot
— Unions NSW (@unionsnsw) September 10, 2024
Asked by Fordham whether she thought the government's proposed 10 per cent pay increase over three years was substantial, Jane replied with: "No, not by a long-shot".
"I'm heading towards his [Minns] office right now, and I would love to talk to him personally," an audibly emotional Jane then says. Minns responds: "You've presented your case very eloquently and I would love to do more, but I have to be honest about our capacity to pay".
Nurse and midwife rallies scheduled all over NSW
Meanwhile, rallies are still scheduled to proceed in 16 locations including Albury, Newcastle, Tamworth and outside the premier's Sydney electorate office today despite the industrial relations commission on Monday ordering the NSW Nurses and Midwives' Association to call them off.
The union isn't happy that provisions for extra funding — for several health-focused promises powering Labor's 2023 election win — can't extend to wages. Labor was "refusing to fix the gender pay gap" and deliver the state's largest female-dominated workforce fair and reasonable pay, union general secretary Shaye Candish said.
Three-in-four NSW public health workers are women, with median salaries 3.2 per cent below their male counterparts. The union said an immediate 15-per-cent pay rise could be covered through capturing $3 billion in lost commonwealth health funding.
It's prompted warnings to keep ambulances and emergency departments clear of minor cases as Labor feels the heat from public sector unions.
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