St Vincent’s ANMF Members reject St Vincent’s Private updated offer. Stop Work and rally to proceed as planned rain, hail or shine.

26 November 2024

Stop Work and rally to proceed as planned rain, hail or shine – 12.45pm to 4.15pm on Thursday 28 November

Members planning to participate in the STOP WORK rally are urged to register their attendance and book a place on the ANMF bus at anmfvic.asn.au/stopwork.

REVISED OFFER

Members will be aware that ANMF received a further updated offer from St Vincent’s Private Hospitals (SVPH) and their industrial representative, Service Industry Advisory Group (SIAG), last week which included six new items:

On call/recall: Clause 40 (a) close on call Theatre and Cath Lab arrangements to be extended to existing hospital sites.
EN Specialist: new classification scope to be settled enabling a larger cohort of ENs to be classified at a Level 3
Redeployment Allowance (campus-to-campus): $40 per occasion
Compassionate Leave: 5 days paid compassionate leave
Personal Leave Certification: 5 single day absences without certification
Long Service Leave: recognition of 12 months unpaid parental leave as service for the purposes of LSL.

The offer also included the maintenance of other key beneficial terms set out in the previously proposed enterprise agreement of 16 October 2024.

However, because of the added items, St Vincent’s Private have revised the wages offer down slightly. The initial increase will be 4% from 1 February 2025, rather than the original offer in the proposed EA, which was 4.5% from 1 February 2025. St Vincent’s Private admit they have not costed the new items, so the 0.5% reduction is essentially arbitrary.

MEMBERS REJECT REVISED OFFER:

At an all-sites St Vincent’s Private members’ meeting held online today, members overwhelmingly voted to reject the revised offer. While members acknowledged there were several improvements in the offer, the main points of concern are the reduction in the wages offer and St Vincent’s continued refusal to:

include ratios, staffing or skill mix standards in the Agreement, including in theatres and ICU.
support changes that ensure the nurse/midwife in-charge of a shift does not have a patient load and no longer has to coordinate the shift while managing a patient load.
agree to define the redeployment allowance to include when a nurse/midwife is redeployed from their home ward/unit to another ward/unit (as opposed to redeployment from campus to campus).
agree to an additional week of annual leave for part-time nurses, which is standard in the public sector and across much of aged care.
increase allowances, including on-call allowances, casual and night duty rates, leaving St Vincent’s Private nurses and midwives further behind the public sector on wages.

These key issues and other matters have not been addressed in the revised offer.

Additional information regarding members’ rejection of the revised offer is outlined in the members’ meeting Resolution accompanying this Campaign Update.

ANMF will have a further meeting with St Vincent’s Private Hospitals Association and SIAG on Friday 29 November. Joining the scheduled Stop Work and Rally on Thursday 28 November, a day before, will be critical as ANMF continue to negotiate with St Vincent’s for an improved offer.

ANMF urges St Vincent’s Private members to attend the Thursday Stop Work Rally to consider priority claims and next steps – especially the staffing and workloads issues. The rally will go ahead rain, hail or shine.

Stop work and community rally – registration and buses

Members participating in the Thursday 28 November STOP WORK rally are encouraged to register their attendance and book a place on the ANMF bus via anmfvic.asn.au/stopwork.

Members on wards and units outside theatres are encouraged to stop work for the last 2 hours and 15 minutes of your AM shift or the first 2 hours and 15 minutes of your PM shift.

Organise for your ward to leave safe night-duty staffing levels for that period (your ANMF job reps will liaise with the NUM/MUM).

Please note that you are not legally required to advise your NUM/MUM or manager of your participation in the stop work. You can, as a matter of courtesy, let them know and that is usually done in the public sector on the day before or morning of the stop work. St Vincent’s have had 5 clear days’ notice of the intention to take stop work action and they know approximately how many union members there are across the four campuses. They can prepare for that stop work. We have advised them that each ward/unit will ensure that night staffing levels will be maintained. Do what is comfortable for you, but please note you are not obliged to disclose whether or not you are going to engage in the stop work.

Theatre members are encouraged to delay the start of the afternoon theatre list as agreed in your campus theatres.

Make sure your ward, unit or theatre is represented.

Not working? Members not rostered to work are urged to attend to support your colleagues.

Bring your placards and signs. Wear your red t-shirt. Lunch and drinks provided.

This action is item 27 on the protected industrial action ballot order which states: 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).

Download the St Vincent’s Private Hospitals STOP WORK rally poster [PDF] for your workplace noticeboard via anmfvic.asn.au/stopworkposter.

Redeployment issue

ANMF understands that some nurses and midwives have effectively been stood down or forced to take a day of annual leave when you declined to be redeployed from your usual ward to another ward/unit. The ANMF sought urgent legal advice about the actions of the employer. We have commenced an action in the Fair Work Commission in relation to a member at East Melbourne who we believe has been unlawfully stood down.

If you or a colleague is stood down because you have refused to be moved from your home ward to another ward/unit please report the employer action (whether stand down without pay or forced use of paid leave).

Reports can be made through the ANMF Redeployment action form via anmfvic.asn.au/redeployment.

HARDSHIP FUND AND REPORTING PAY DOCKING THREATS OR HARASSMENT

It is your legal right under the Fair Work Act 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 have 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 and the date of pay docking as part of any application.

FOLLOW ANMF ON FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM AND TIKTOK

Members are encouraged to follow ANMF on our social media channels. You’ll find campaign information, support from your union colleagues and you’ll be able to support each other.

Find and follow ANMF (Vic Branch) via @anmfvic

CAMPAIGN RESOURCES

Members are encouraged to use the campaign social media profile picture, Teams screen, Dear patient letter, Nurses and midwives speak out flier, Information for senior nurses and midwives and Social media work ban guidance all available at anmfvic.asn.au/stvprivresources.

TAKE PHOTOS AND VIDEO OF YOUR ACTION

Keep uploading your photos and short videos of members wearing the campaign t-shirts at work or reading their letter to the editor, and with your campaign signs at the upcoming stop work rally so we can share these on ANMF’s social media channels and in our publications. Refer to ANMF’s Social media work-ban guidance on our campaign resources page.

Remember to take your pics or videos holding the camera vertically as these are better for social media reels.

Please don’t email photos or video as the quality will be reduced. Instead upload the original-sized files to our St Vincent’s Private Hospitals Dropbox folder at anmfvic.asn.au/stvsdropbox.