Nurses, midwives and carers, the union campaign to ‘Change the rules’ and make our country a fairer place is stepping up.
We’re calling on you to be part of the campaign by wearing your ‘Change your rules’ t-shirt, your red ‘Nurses, midwives, carers’ t-shirt or purple ‘Make aged care ratios law’ t-shirt on Saturday 2 February. Don’t wear them at work, as that would be considered industrial action. But feel free to wear it to the shops, to the gym and anywhere else you happen to be on 2 February. Take a selfie and post it to social media with #ChangeTheRules and #anmfvic – you can put your family, friends and pets in the picture too!
In the ‘Change the rules’ campaign, union members are doing what we have always done – standing up for fairness in working life.
We are saying that the gap between rich and poor in Australia has widened due to wage stagnation and wage theft, penalty rates in some industries have been axed, and the casualisation of the workforce and growth in the ‘gig economy’ has left workers without rights.
Perhaps you have friends or family members working in the gig economy, delivering food or driving for Uber, without job security, holiday pay or sick pay – or know someone working in hospitality who just lost their Sunday penalty rates.
What rules need to change for ANMF members and our patients and residents?
ACTU Secretary Sally McManus told the National Press Club that rules need to be changed to offer protection to workers against employers terminating agreements, leaving workers to bargain under the cloud of diminished terms and conditions.
The current rules allowed Bolton Clarke to put new Victorian RDNS staff on an inferior Queensland aged care agreement, following the merger of RDNS and RSL Care Queensland to form Bolton Clarke. Now ANMF is contesting Bolton Clarke’s attempt to impose a new enterprise agreement on both new and existing Victorian nurses that is vastly inferior to the RDNS agreement. These rules must be changed.
The ANMF supports the ACTU’s push to change the rules around enterprise bargaining to enable collective bargaining across multiple employers. Having to bargain with individual employers rather than collectively has diminished ANMF’s capacity to negotiate a fair pay deal for private aged care nurses and carers .
We’re campaigning to change the rules in aged care, to legislate for staffing ratios so aged care workers can provide quality care to residents.
It’s too late to order your Change the Rules t-shirt online to get to you by 2 February but you can pick one up at Victorian Trades Hall, cnr Lygon Street and Victoria Streets, Carlton, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.
