Nurses stop work over staffing crisis
By Bill Mason
BRISBANE — Nurses and other health workers at the Princess Alexandra Hospital picketed the hospital on September 9 demanding more funding for the state's ailing public health system.
Some 250 workers, including nurses, doctors, clerks, kitchen hands and wards people, joined the picket.
Staff from many hospitals held combined union meetings on September 8 and decided to support a protest march in the city on September 14.
Despite Premier Wayne Goss's claim that the dispute is solely over pay and agency bargaining negotiations, Queensland Nurses Union secretary Denis Jones said the industrial action had nothing to do with enterprise bargaining. "It is about saving the health service", he said on September 9.
Jones said all hospital unions except the Australian Workers Union had joined the protest. Asked whether this was because of the AWU's strong connections with the Goss government, he replied, "People can make their own interpretation".
A leading doctor at one Brisbane public hospital told Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly, "The whole health industry is in crisis.
"There has been an increase in funding, but less service provided. Funds are going into bureaucracy, but there is a lack of money for patient services.
"All health workers are involved in this dispute, with meetings at 38 hospitals this week."
One protesting nurse said, "We want to ensure patients have proper care and comfort. We want the government to provide adequate staff numbers."