St Vincent’s Private Hospitals EBA update: VOTE NO

Upcoming EBA ballot: vote NO

St Vincent’s Health Australia is preparing an employee ballot of its proposed enterprise agreement.

This agreement fails to address safe patient workloads and ratios and is missing key improvements that ANMF achieved in the recent 2024-28 public sector nurses and midwives agreement.

The seven-day access period is likely to start on Wednesday 16 October. This is when the employer will provide employees with a copy of the proposed agreement and a summary of the key changes.

An electronic ballot is likely to open on Thursday 24 October and close around Thursday 31 October.

Upcoming members meetings and workplace visits

In addition to the Tuesday 8 October members meetings, ANMF will hold further meetings and visit workplaces to discuss St Vincent’s Health Australia’s offer and why we are recommending a NO vote. Members will have an opportunity to ask questions and discuss next steps. It is critical that as many members as possible attend these meetings and participate in your campaign for nurse/midwife patient ratios and improved allowances, entitlements and working conditions that are consistent with the public sector.

St Vincent’s Private Hospital, East Melbourne – workplace visit – all day Friday 11 October (Organiser Mitch Hoover)

St Vincent’s Private Hospital, Werribee – workplace visit – 2.30pm Monday 14 October, (Organiser Te Arahi Samakowidic)

St Vincent’s Private Hospital, Fitzroy – workplace visit – all day Tuesday 15 October (Organiser Mitch Hoover)

St Vincent’s Private Hospital, Kew – members meeting/workplace visit – 4pm* Tuesday 15 October, venue to be confirmed (Organiser Narelle Hayes)

St Vincent’s Private Hospital, Fitzroy – members meeting – 2.30pm Friday 18 October, venue to be confirmed (Organiser Mitch Hoover)

St Vincent’s Private Hospital, East Melbourne – members meeting – 2.30pm Monday 21 October, venue to be confirmed (Organiser Mitch Hoover)

St Vincent’s Private Hospital, Kew – members meeting/workplace visit 12noon Tuesday 22 October, venue to be confirmed (Organiser Narelle Hayes)

St Vincent’s Private Hospital, Werribee – members meeting – 12.30pm Wednesday 23 October, venue to be confirmed (Organiser Te Arahi Samakowidic)

Individual members meeting notices and text messages will be sent to members.

Five reasons to vote NO

ANMF is preparing VOTE NO materials which your Organiser and Job Reps will be distributing in the workplace. In the meantime, here are five reasons to consider voting NO in the upcoming ballot.

1. The enterprise agreement is about more than just wages. While the wages offer is acceptable, our concern is more about what is missing from the proposed agreement rather than what is in it.
2. Members have told ANMF it is crucial that minimum staffing levels – nurse/midwife patient ratios – are in your next agreement. Ratios make work safer, deliver better outcomes for patients and will mean fewer nurses and midwives leave or reduce their hours to manage high workloads.
3. Ratios work! There’s 20 years of evidence in the public sector. Ratios are a minimum (not a maximum) way to staff wards and units. Ratios are also flexible, because the staff in a ward or unit can be allocated a different number of patients according to acuity. Ratios also provide funding, roster and staffing transparency. St Vincent’s Private NSW EBA has had ratios since 2023 – why not in Victoria?
4. The proposed agreement is missing over 40 improvements to conditions made in the public sector agreements in 2020 and 2024. Everything from parity with on-call and night shift allowances, access to the sixth week of annual leave for part-time nurses and midwives, recognition of unpaid leave for accrual of long service leave, an increased number of personal leave days that don’t require evidence and many more. Together, those missing improvements add up to thousands of dollars a year.
5. If you vote yes to approve the agreement, you will be stuck with the agreement for two years. ANMF, your Job Reps and members won’t have a chance to change it.

Update your details

Ensuring your ANMF details are up to date will be important if members decide to take protected industrial action in the future.

To be eligible to vote in a protected industrial action ballot, ANMF members’ details must be up to date and match with their details on the employer-provided list. This includes: surname, first name, middle name, date of birth, work and private email, mobile and postal address.

Members whose workplace and contact details don’t match won’t be eligible to vote, which may limit everyone’s ability to participate in a campaign.

During October members who update their details have the chance to win a $1000 cash Visa card; a three- or four-night stay at ANMF House (Melbourne), Ocean Grove Chalet or ViewHill Holiday Units Bright; or a $300 Coles Myer gift voucher.

To update your details, visit the member portal.

Encourage your colleagues to join ANMF

The more ANMF members we have at St Vincent’s Private Hospitals the stronger we are when negotiating and campaigning for improvements.

Encourage your colleagues to join via https://anmfvic.asn.au/join.

If you do refer a colleague to join, you’ll also enter the above competition. Just let us know via this ‘referred a friend’ online form.

Got a campaign inquiry?

If you need to get in touch with your ANMF Organiser please contact them via records@anmfvic.asn.au

St Vincent’s Private Hospital, Fitzroy – Mitch Hoover

St Vincent’s Private Hospital, East Melbourne – Mitch Hoover

St Vincent’s Private Hospital, Kew – Narelle Hayes

St Vincent’s Private Hospital, Werribee – Te Arahi Samakowidic