Goulburn is leaching nurses to Canberra as they seek better terms and conditions, a union says.
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The NSW Nurses and Midwives Association Goulburn branch joined in a statewide strike on Wednesday, July 24. Car drivers honked horns as they rallied outside Goulburn Base Hospital with signs and chants.
Members left work from 12pm to 2pm in their own time and called for an immediate 15 per cent pay rise. Premier Chris Minns has offered 10.5pc over three years but the Association has rejected this as insufficient.
Goulburn hospital branch president, Jane Cotter, said nurses were currently receiving "2008 wages."
"It may sound like all we're worried about is money but it's the ramifications of not being able to retain nurses," she said.
"Goulburn Base Hospital needs nurses but if they go the ACT they can be paid more because they've just had a wage rise there."
Ms Cotter said she was receiving feedback that graduate nurses from NSW were opting to work in Canberra for the pay and "because they felt better supported."
At Goulburn and elsewhere, they were working overtime, including double shifts. Branch secretary, Larissa Butler, said they didn't mind doing this because they wouldn't let down patients or the community. During Wednesday's strike none of the nurses left patients that required care.
"The Premier told us he'd fix what the Liberals had broken but he hasn't," she said.
"It's all well and good to build all these new hospitals but you can't staff them."
Ms Cotter said while on paper it looked like Goulburn was adequately resourced, this was largely due to the overtime.
She cited a 28.4pc wage rise for Victorian nurses and incentives in that state for graduate nurses, including the government's payment of HECS debts.
"A graduate nurse with a three-year degree receives $77,000 in NSW but a railway worker is paid $120,000. That's a big difference so why would you stay?" she said.
"...We know everyone is suffering with the cost of living. We're not saying we're special but we don't feel valued compared to other professionals."
![Registered nurses Jenny Kuruvilla and Eldho Varghese conveyed a message at the rally. Picture by Louise Thrower. Registered nurses Jenny Kuruvilla and Eldho Varghese conveyed a message at the rally. Picture by Louise Thrower.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/FkT3ZusFw5YrTvZCipmLUF/488ef933-72b9-4b3a-b8d7-054c98f38fdf.JPG/r0_219_4288_2630_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Ms Cotter said other public sector professionals had received wage rises. This included the aged care sector to which hospital nurses were increasingly drifting.
"We're bleeding nurses and there is no succession planning," she said.
Elsewhere in the Southern NSW Local Health District, Association members at Yass, Moruya/Eurobodalla and South East Regional hospitals also went on strike on Wednesday. Crookwell Hospital nurses will join the action on Thursday.
Ms Waters said the strike was just the beginning if the government didn't listen.