St Vincent’s Private update #26: Members support revised offer going to a ballot of all St Vincent’s Private nurses and midwives

26 February 2025

DAY 101 OF PROTECTED INDUSTRIAL ACTION

After 100 days of protected industrial action, ANMF members voted at a members’ meeting (Tuesday 25 February) to allow the revised St Vincent’s Private Hospitals offer to be put to a ballot of all nursing and midwifery employees covered by the agreement, not just ANMF members.

This was based on a recommendation from ANMF officers and Job Reps that:

the current offer is as far as St Vincent’s Private Hospitals will go in negotiations
there are positives in the proposed staffing clause
it was unclear what support there is for escalated protected industrial action and what that would achieve.

The vote clears the way for the revised offer to be put to a ballot of all nursing and midwifery employees covered by the agreement. All staff will have a chance to view the proposed EBA during the access period of seven days (see below) after drafting is finalised.

The proposal’s key outcomes were outlined in EBA update #25 and ANMF will issue more details once the drafting is finalised.

Protected industrial action that is currently in place (stage 1 and elements of stage 2) will remain in place until the drafting of the proposed staffing clause is finalised to the satisfaction of ANMF officers and Job Reps.

ANMF will issue a further update to advise when protected industrial action will stop. We are hopeful that this will occur by the end of the week. See more information below.

ANMF officials have acknowledged while the proposed offer does not achieve all members’ EBA claims, members have made significant progress from the first offer tabled last year. Due to your efforts:

there will now be a proposed staffing clause that prescribes additional PM and night staffing resources with the aim of making ANUMs/AMUMs in priority areas supernumerary. This will occur in two tranches: the first has 19 guaranteed additional shifts on commencement of the enterprise agreement and tranche 2 will have 12 additional shifts from February 2027
there is a Nursing and Midwifery Consultative Committee that has real work to do and resources to allocate
there is a commitment in the proposed enterprise agreement to roster sufficient staff for meal breaks and not divert those staff to cover unplanned absences.

So real progress has been made.

St Vincent’s Private Hospitals’ members have been trailblazers taking unprecedented protected industrial action in the private acute sector. We would like to acknowledge and thank our dedicated Job Reps and members who have courageously participated in this campaign to improve wages, staffing levels and working conditions for all employees.

At the members’ meeting on Tuesday 25 February, members passed a resolution that:

acknowledged the positive progress in gaining modest additional resources which will be incorporated into the agreement as well as an on-going consultative mechanism that will review staffing and allocate tranche 2 shifts
expressed disappointment that key staffing and workload management issues have not been resolved and that these fundamental issues remained a work in progress
acknowledged that further bargaining and protected industrial action would not fundamentally change the offer
noted staffing issues, along with public sector parity, would be central to the next EBA negotiations in early 2027.

The resolution resolved:

to support the recommendation of the ANMF and our Job Reps that, subject to agreement on drafting, the agreement now go to a ballot of all staff
to ensure that all members are informed about the positive elements of the proposed agreement
to suspend all industrial action (whether stage 1 or stage 2) from the point that officials and Job Reps are satisfied with the drafting
to thank all members for their commitment and support during the campaign and to express our gratitude to our Job Reps for the enormous amount of work they have done over the course of this campaign.

Read the full resolution

What happens next?

As soon as the drafting of clauses is complete St Vincent’s Private Hospitals will put the proposed agreement out to a ballot of all nursing and midwifery employees covered by the agreement, not just ANMF members.

Under the Fair Work Act 2009 this ballot is organised by the employer, not the ANMF.

Seven-day access period

Once the agreement drafting is finalised, the employer will make the enterprise agreement and a ‘summary of changes’ document available to all employees covered by the agreement for seven days prior to the ballot opening.

During this access period, to comply with their obligations in the Fair Work Act 2009 employers must explain the terms of the agreement to employees and notify employees of the voting method and when the voting will occur. Employers will also be required to provide their list of eligible employees and casuals to the independent ballot agent.

During the access and ballot periods the ANMF will also provide members with information to further explain the significant improvements to terms, conditions and wages.

The ballot period

Following completion of the seven-day access period, the ballot will start. This will likely be an electronic ballot conducted by an independent agent, and eligible employees will be provided seven days to cast their vote. Under the Fair Work Act 2009, the employer organises the proposed EBA ballot.

The outcome of the ballot is determined by the majority of those who vote.

Status of industrial action

St Vincent’s Private Hospitals provided the latest draft of their revised offer to ANMF 20 minutes prior to the members meeting of Tuesday 25 February.

Members resolved to continue protected industrial action until drafting of the staffing and workload clauses is completed to the satisfaction of ANMF officials and Job Reps. ANMF will issue a further campaign update to advise when the action will stop.

That protected industrial action includes:

all stage one protected industrial actions (items 1–19 on the protected industrial action ballot order)
refusal to undertake food services related to the delivery of meals, snacks or beverages (item 20)
a ban by any nurse/midwife in charge of a ward or unit from taking a patient load (item 26)

ANMF members voted to pause bed closures, stop works and theatre stoppages since 25 January as a sign of good will to support meaningful negotiations.

See Update #20 for the full list of protected industrial action.

ANMF Organisers and staff continue to visit members in the workplace to support your ongoing protected industrial action.