Workers across multiple departments at Flinders Medical Centre – including theatres, patient transport, cleaning, and sterilisation – will walk off the job between 2:30 pm and 3:00 pm today demanding fair pay and respect.
Earlier this week workers at the Repat also participated in a coordinated 30-minute stop-work.
This action forms part of a broader state-wide campaign by United Workers Union members, with disability support workers, aged and community care workers, health support workers, and education workers standing together for better wages and the respect they deserve.
Since February, thousands of Department of Human Services (DHS) disability support workers and health support workers have implemented ongoing work bans in pursuit of a fair and reasonable wage offer. These existing work bans are continuing.
Quotes attributable to Barb Possingham, Patient Services Assistant at Flinders Medical Centre:
“We’ve been pushed to the brink, and we’ve now been forced to escalate our action. Without us, hospitals wouldn’t function, and patient care would be compromised.
“We’re demanding a fair wage that reflects the cost of living and the important work we do every day to keep the health system running.
“I work at Flinders Medical Centre. We are short-staffed daily because people can’t afford to work here. That means patients are stuck waiting in the emergency department or in an ambulance on the ramp because there simply aren’t enough workers to clean rooms and move patients.
“On Monday afternoon, 22 patients were waiting for a bed in the FMC emergency department – nine of those patients had been waiting more than 12 hours and one more than 24 hours.
“My colleagues can’t keep up with their bills. One is about to lose their home because they can’t keep up with their mortgage payments. Another has moved in with his elderly mother because he can’t afford rent and is now reliant on her to buy groceries.
“It’s time for the Malinauskas Labor Government to back the workers who support South Australians. This means paying us a fair wage! Without us, patients wait longer in the emergency department and ramping is worse.”
Quotes attributable to Demi Pnevmatikos, United Workers Union South Australian State Secretary and National Public Sector Director:
“Health and disability support workers are the backbone of our public services, yet they continue to be underpaid and undervalued.
“This marks a significant escalation in the campaign, sending a strong message to the Malinauskas Labor Government that the time for a fair, liveable wage offer is now.
“Workers who are key to our state’s healthcare system should be able to do the important work of caring for South Australians and be able to put food on the table and keep a roof over their children’s heads.”
Patient care remains a top priority throughout all industrial action. United Workers Union is committed to working with the government to ensure patient well-being is always protected.
ENDS
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