Issue No 103 | 20 July 2001 | |
MediaSt John of God Workers Pray for JusticeBy Lisa Jooste
LHMU members at St John of God private hospitals in Perth have been involved in a campaign of rolling stoppages all week in support of a fair enterprise bargaining increase. Two-hour snap strikes were undertaken by stores staff at St John's Subiaco and Murdoch sites on Wednesday - followed by sit-ins on Thursday and more stoppages Friday. LHMU National President and WA Secretary, Helen Creed, says union members are committed to an active campaign, to achieving a fair pay rise. " The private health sector in Australia is booming and profits are high," said Helen. "St John of God are spending big on capital works while our members struggle to make ends meet." At a stopwork meeting last week, the 500 LHMU members including Caregivers, Enrolled Nurses, Orderlies, Catering Workers, CSSD Assistants, Cleaners, Ground Staff, Laundry Workers, Store Workers and Security, resolved to take the action. Delegates lead the way St John of God delegates are leading the way in the campaign for a fair wage increase. Here's what one delegate, Merlene Cotter, had to say at the stopwork meeting last Friday: " We follow five of St John of God Hospital's values: Justice, Compassion, Respect, Excellence and Hospitality. " It's a great pity we cannot get management to follow the same values in their attitude towards us. " We don't spend enough time with our families. We don't earn enough to spend on our families," Merlene Cotter said. "Management walk out the door every Friday to spend time with their families and have the money to enjoy life. " We are not going to beg for a pay rise of 5% and 3% - we are going to demand it. We are going to fight for it. We earn it - we deserve it. " Never before has the wage gap between management and workers been so wide, and if we let it, it will only get wider. " This is only the beginning. We are not going to give up. " Don't ask what your Union can do for you - it is you and me and all of us together who are the strength and the power and the Union. " United we bargain - Divided we beg, " Merlene Cotter said. Claim is reasonable and affordable "St John of God's stated values are 'justice, compassion, respect, excellence and hospitality'," Helen Creed said. "Members feel the hospital's management are not applying these values in their dealings with staff." St John of God's operates two private hospitals in Perth. Helen Creed said the union members' claim for two wage increases of 5% and 3% over a two year agreement is both reasonable and affordable. She said the only pay rise the workers have had over the last two years was a $10 per week increase over twelve months ago. "At the stopwork meeting on Friday, members talked about how some of the staff at these hospitals can't afford to fix their cars when they break down - we are really talking about 'the working poor', people who John Howard and Tony Abbot deny exist. "Our members care deeply about the welfare of patients at their hospitals - they just want a bit of the same treatment from management."
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Interview: Political Witch Hunt CFMEU national secretary John Sutton on the mooted Royal Commission and what is really needed to clean up the building industry E-Change: 1.3 The Nation State in Crisis In the latest instalment in their study on the new politics, Peter Lewis and Michael Gadiel looks at the rise and fall of the institutional State. Unions: Industrial Violence Rowan Cahill agrees with Tony Abbott that thuggery and violence are part of Australian industrial relations landscape - but it's the bosses who do most of the bashing. History: Total Recoil Neal Towart looks at how Royal Commissions designed to kick unions have typically come back to haunt their architects. International: Behind the Eight Ball Jubilee Australia's Thea Ormond looks at the international activity being generated around this week's Group of Eight Summit in Genoa Politics: Now We The People A new group believes there is an alternative to corporate gobalism and economic rationalism Satire: Marsden Now to Sue Himself Sydney solicitor John Marsden is suing himself for defamation, claiming the recent libel case he brought did irreparable damage to his reputation. Review: In The House Resident Four-Eyes Mark Morey attempts the impossible with this attempt at a serious analysis of Big Brother.
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