The Official Organ of LaborNET
click here to view the latest edition of Workers Online
The Official Organ of LaborNET
Free home delivery
Issue No. 165 20 December 2002  
E D I T O R I A L

Terror Australis
When the historians get down to chronicling 2002 their analysis will read simply: the Bali bombing brought the new era of terror home to Australians and heightened our feelings of insecurity and fear at our ill-defined place in the world.

F E A T U R E S

Interview: Taking Stock
Labor Council secretary John Robertson reflects on 2002 and outlines the challenges for the year to come.

Bad Boss: Pushing the Envelope
Ongoing and resolute commitment to principles advanced by Workplace Relations Minister Tony Abbott have seen Australia Post make history as the first recipient of the Tony Award, recognising Australia's worst employer.

Unions: The Year That Was
From Cole�s witch-hunt to funky union tunes, Peter Lewis reviews the biggest stories from the world of work in 2002.

Republic: Still Fighting
Three years since the constitutional referendum, and despite constant reports of its impending demise, the Australian Republican Movement is still around and active

International: Global Ties, Global Binds
Labourstart's Eric Lee files his annual wrap-up of the year from an international perspective.

Politics: Turning Green
Union support for the ALP is no longer a given, with trade unionists turning to the Greens, as Jim Marr reports.

Technology: Unions Online 2002
Social Change Online's Mark McGrath looks at what worked best for unions online in 2002.

Industrial: The Past Is Before Us
Neale Towart argues that 2003 will be a year where traditional industrial campaigns come back into fashion.

Economics: Market Insecurity
Sydney University�s Frank Stilwell looks back at 2002 from a political economist�s perspective.

Review: Shooting for Sanity
Michael Moore's new movie Bowling for Columbine looks at America's love affair with guns, writes Mark Hebblewhite

Poetry: The PM's Christmas Message
Workers Online has secretly obtained an advance copy of the text of the Address to the Nation that the Prime Minister plans to make. We reproduce the text below.

Culture: Zanger's Sounds of Summer
If 2001-02 was the summer of political and musical terror then this summer 2002-03 is where irreverent Aussie music runs rife.

N E W S

 Abbott Gears For Grocon Stoush

 Delo Brushes Taubmans Pay Off

 Restaurateur Takes Knife to Wages Protection

 Legal Double Whammy to End Year

 We�re Dreaming of a Sweat-Free Christmas

 Star Organiser Takes Off

 Abbott's Xmas Message: Go To Jail

 Nurses Perform Wage Surgery

 Woolies Discount Spirit of Christmas

 New Collapses Prove Entitlements Farce

 Suncorp Ballot Draws Fire

 Unions On Big Day Out

 UN Migrant Worker Charter Welcomed

C O L U M N S

The Soapbox
Tread Carefully - Very Carefully
Nick Housten argues that structural weaknesses could keep federal Labor in Opposition for many years to come.

The Locker Room
A Year Of Two Halves
It was one of those years. It started with a lot of sport and it ended with a lot of sport. Noel Hester and Peter Moss check the runes and dish out the gongs in this year�s Workers Online Sports Awards.

Bosswatch
Footloose Capital
It was a year where the corporate world finally came close to consuming itself with bloated salaries, off the wall options and a string of mega-collapses

Predictions
Into the Beyond
Every year we ask our readers to gaze into the crystal ball. While history shows the view is mirky, we�ve don it again.

L E T T E R S
 Refugee Review
 Representative Representatives
 Men Only?
 Dry Argument
 Vale: Phil Berrigan
WHAT YOU CAN DO
About Workers Online
Latest Issue
Print Latest Issue
Previous Issues
Advanced Search

other LaborNET sites

Labor Council of NSW
Vic Trades Hall Council
IT Workers Alliance
Bosswatch
Unions on LaborNET
Evatt Foundation


Labor for Refugees

BossWatch



News

Nurses Perform Wage Surgery


More than 35,000 NSW nurses will receive a 10 per cent pay rise from January 1 after the NSW Industrial Relations Commission agreed to a special wage movement.

The IRC added six percent rise to the four percent due on January 1 as part of the five-year agreement between the Nurses Association and State Government. The special additional payment applies to nurses in public hospitals and public health care facilities.

A further five per cent pay rise is due on 1 July 2003, which means that - because the rises compound on each other - public sector nurses wages will rise by nearly 16 per cent in 2003.

From January 1 public sector nurses will get between $47 and $185 extra a week, depending on classification.

The majority of general ward nurses - Registered Nurse Year 8 - will receive a $92.00 per week pay rise. A full-time new graduate nurse - Registered Nurse Year 1 - will receive an extra $65.00 per week.

The Full Bench of the NSW IRC granted the pay rise as part of an interim decision in the NSW Nurses Association's (NSWNA) special wages case.

The final decision is expected next year, following the presentation in February and March of final submissions by the NSWNA and NSW Health Department.

Nurses Association general secretary, Brett Holmes, called the interim rise "a substantial first step" in his organisation's campaign to rebuild nursing as an attractive career option.

"The NSW IRC has sent a positive message to the nurses of NSW today and we look forward to building on that in the final decision next year," Holmes says.

"The Commission clearly understands the seriousness of the nurse shortage and has accepted that improved nurse wages are an important factor in overcoming the shortage.

"The vast majority of nurses will appreciate this pay rise and appreciate the strong support they have received from the general community in their push for a better deal," Mr Holmes said."

As part of its What's a Nurse Worth? campaign the NSWNA is seeking, through this special case, a one-off 15% pay rise, qualification allowances and retention allowances for nurses. The case began in mid-June and so far has had 35 days of hearings, involving around 40 witnesses.

The Full Bench hearing the case is NSW IRC President, Justice Lance Wright, Justice Roger Boland and Commissioner Ray Patterson.

The What's a Nurse Worth? campaign has included public-awareness events in cities, suburbs and towns throughout the State, stop work meetings and rallies at various hospitals and a statewide public-sector nurses' strike on 18 October 2001.

As part of the campaign, the NSWNA also collected more than 120,000 signatures on what is believed to be the biggest petition ever presented to the NSW Parliament.


------

*   View entire issue - print all of the articles!

*   Issue 165 contents



email workers to a friend printer-friendly version latest breaking news from labornet


Search All Issues | Latest Issue | Previous Issues | Print Latest Issue

© 1999-2002 Workers Online
Workers Online is a resource for the Labour movement
provided by the Labor Council of NSW
URL: http://workers.labor.net.au/165/news63_nurses.html
Last Modified: 15 Nov 2005

Powered by APT Solutions
Labor Council of NSW Workers Online
LaborNET