HUNTER nurses will strike for 24 hours from Tuesday over the NSW government's refusal to negotiate fairer pay.
An estimated 1500 NSW Nurses and Midwives' Association (NSWNMA) members will walk off the job from the start of the morning shift on September 24 from across Newcastle, Lake Macquarie, Lower Hunter and Upper Hunter.
NSWNMA John Hunter Hospital branch secretary Linda Mobbs said staff do not take the decision to strike, lightly.
"The union has remained committed to finding a path forward but the government has simply failed to demonstrate a willingness to move or enter negotiations with any real show of good faith," she said.
The workers were fed up with being ignored by the NSW government in their requests for a 15 per cent one-year pay increase.
"I think the majority of nurses and midwives feel so let down by the promises that government made when they came into power," Ms Mobbs said.
"They keep saying they paid us 40 per cent more than the previous government, but that barely covered a cup of coffee per week for the average nurse."
"Nurses are angry, exhausted and can't understand why their government is not supporting them."
NSWNMA general secretary Shaye Candish said members were desperate to provide the safe level of care patients needed when seeking treatment inside public hospitals, but instead of their skilled work being remunerated accordingly, their employer believes a baseline 3 per cent 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," she said.
"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 per cent higher."
"It's also clear when two major public sector unions are undertaking industrial action, that we have a government that is incapable of dealing with the issues at hand."
The NSWNMA has confirmed minimal, life-preserving staffing will be maintained in public hospitals and health services during the strike period.
"Generally we find patients and the public sympathetic to our cause rather than the politicians rhetoric. If people are inconvenienced in any way they need to contact their local MP," Ms Mobbs said.
