STATUS OF NEGOTIATIONS
ANMF provided St Vincent’s Private Hospitals with details about the key outstanding issues including the following key priorities:
- supernumerary in-charge nurse/midwife
- night shift staffing
- minimum staffing levels in some areas e.g. the unsafe night duty ratio of 2 nurses for 18-19 patients at St Vincent’s Private Hospital, Kew. (Please note that ANMF supports the continuation, as a minimum, of 1:5 on PM shifts at Kew.)
- birthing suite staffing levels (to ensure staffing is consistent across 7 days of the week)
ANMF remains available to resume negotiations with management and will stay at the table until this dispute is resolved.
THEATRES AND RECOVERY DAY OF ACTION WEDNESDAY 18 DECEMBER FROM 12.30PM
ANMF has also provided St Vincent’s Private Hospitals management with the minimum five (working) days’ notice of protected industrial action specific to theatres.
This means St Vincent’s Private Hospitals theatre members will stop work action for the afternoon session on Wednesday 18 December, rather than participate in the rolling stoppages on that day only. On all other days’ theatres will engage in the rolling half shift stoppages commencing Friday 13 December.
On Wednesday 18 December members will stop work from approximately 12.30pm and will not participate in the afternoon theatre session. The one third cap on participation does not apply. The aim is to shut the PM session apart from having sufficient staff to perform emergency surgery.
This is items 22 and 27 on the protected industrial action ballot order:
A ban on provision of nursing work for up to one in two surgery sessions or up to one in two surgical cases (that is, a refusal to work on those surgery sessions or in relation to those cases designated as cancelled by ANMF job representatives).
Single and/or consecutive work stoppages of up to four (4) hours duration including such stoppages to travel for and to attend stop-work meetings (including those organised by the ANMF).
ROLLING STOP WORK PROTECTED INDUSTRIAL ACTION, FROM 7AM FRIDAY 13 DECEMBER
St Vincent’s Private Hospitals members will start rolling STOP WORK action from 7am Friday 13 December. This includes theatres and recovery.
ANMF staff will be at your facility between 10.30am – 12.30pm and 5pm to 7pm each day to support you.
This is item 27 on the protected industrial action ballot order:
Single and/or consecutive work stoppages of up to four (4) hours duration or half your rostered shift whichever is greater including such stoppages to travel for and to attend stop-work meetings (including those organised by the ANMF).
ANMF clarified implementation of the STOP WORK with members and Job reps at meetings held on Tuesday 10 December.
- The decision about when and what times you take protected stop work action from 13 December is your decision. Consult your Job Rep and ANMF colleagues to make sure that no more than one third of rostered staff are taking four hours or half-shift stop work action at any one time in larger wards (or up to 50% in smaller wards/units). Do not let your NUMs/MUMs dictate if or when you take action on the basis of ‘safety’ or ‘skill mix’. If this occurs refer the NUM/MUM to your Job Rep or ANMF Organiser Mitch Hoover or the nominated lead Organiser for your site (see below).
- Members will stop work every day for up to four hours or half their shift (whichever is longer).
- The time can be taken at any point in the shift, however, if it is an early shift the member may decide to take the first four hours off. If the shift is 10 hours the member may take the first five hours.
- No more than one third of the staff rostered on the shift in larger wards (6 or more rostered) should participate in the stop work action. Ensure you leave night duty staffing levels. The actual staff members who will be taking the action can be decided by ward staff the day before so that the staff member/s can notify their NUM in the afternoon.
- Members are encouraged, as a courtesy, to email or tell their NUM/MUM on the afternoon prior to the shift to inform them that they will be taking the protected industrial action. Please liaise with your Job Rep. We do not want to risk patient safety so the cap on numbers participating in each ward/unit is important. Please note, patient safety is paramount but this is different to disruption or inconvenience which is part and parcel of industrial action.
- Night shift and smaller units where there are 5 or fewer nurses or midwives rostered can take action and up to 50% of those rostered can participate at any one time. Members can decide who and when they stop for 4 hours or half their shift, provided no one ANMF member will stop more than 3 times in a week.
- An example of implementation: if a ward has 36 beds and there are ten nurses rostered on the AM shift then three nurses, who are ANMF members, would stop work for four hours on that shift. If it is an early shift the member may decide to take the first four hours off so that they do not have to leave their allocated patients at 11am.
It is crucial that all members participate
LET ANMF KNOW WHEN YOU ARE TAKING STOP WORK ACTION
ANMF encourages members to fill in this short online form if you are stopping work viaanmfvic.asn.au/StVs-StopWork
HARDSHIP FUND AND REPORTING PAY DOCKING THREATS OR HARASSMENT
It is your legal right under the Fair Work Act 2009 to take protected industrial action in support of your campaign for an improved enterprise agreement.
‘Protected’ means you cannot be terminated or disciplined for taking industrial action. For protected industrial action items like shutting beds or stopping work, management still has the right to dock pay for the time of the stoppage e.g. if you stop work for two hours then they can deduct two hours pay only.
ANMF will support members who are threatened, intimidated or harassed or who lose pay as a result of taking protected industrial action. Where a member loses income as a result of protected industrial action and is facing hardship, the ANMF (Vic Branch) will support that member financially through our hardship fund.
During the protected industrial action campaign members have access to two forms to:
- report pay docking threats, intimidation and harassment via anmfvic.asn.au/stvprivreport.
- make a hardship fund application to be supported by your union via anmfvic.asn.au/stvprivhardship
Please note members will need to upload pay slip evidence of pay docking as part of any application. In the event your shift is cancelled as result of you notifying your participation in the STOP WORK, also include the roster as part of your application.
Got a campaign issue or inquiry
If you need to get in touch with your ANMF Organiser please contact them via records@anmfvic.asn.au. If it is an emergency call Organisers below (until 24 December). Mobile phone numbers can be found in the email version of this newsflash sent to you on 12 December.
St Vincent’s Private Hospital, Fitzroy – Mitch Hoover
St Vincent’s Private Hospital, East Melbourne – Mim Harrison (relieving for Mitch Hoover)
St Vincent’s Private Hospital, Kew – Narelle Hayes
St Vincent’s Private Hospital, Werribee – Hailee Love (relieving for Mitch Hoover)
Mitch (Fitzroy), Hailee (Werribee), Mim (EM) and Narelle (Kew) are the go-to people with any emergencies or issues until 24 December 2024.
