NSW nurses and midwives are ramping up their campaign for a 15% pay increase, planning a 24-hour strike next week over the state government’s ongoing refusal to engage in meaningful negotiations.

Thousands of nurses and midwives will strike for 24 hours from the start of morning shift on Tuesday 24 September. However, life-preserving staff will be maintained in public hospitals and health services.

NSWNMA General Secretary Shaye Candish said the union remained committed to finding a path forward, but the government had failed to negotiate despite repeatedly being implored to do so.

“Our hospitals are in crisis with increasing activity and increasing numbers of nurses and midwives leaving for better pay interstate. The public expects their local hospital to be well staffed, but the current wage setting for nurses and midwives means they cannot stay,” said Ms Candish.

“We have genuinely tried to avert this action, but the government has simply failed to demonstrate a willingness to move.

“Our members are desperate to provide the safe level of care NSW patients need when seeking treatment inside public hospitals, but instead of their skilled work being remunerated accordingly, their employer believes a baseline 3% pay offer is enough.

“It’s not acceptable for the state government to continue turning a blind eye to the pay inequity that is seriously undermining this state’s largest female-dominated workforce. We now have the lowest paid nurses and midwives in the country.

“The government seems to forget that nurses and midwives are leaving for better wages and conditions in Queensland and Victoria, where wages are between 10 and 22% higher.”

Information on public rallies here