Image: AAP/Ethan James
Nurses and midwives in Tasmania will walk off the job en masse for the second time in two weeks as part of their continued push for improved pay and conditions.
The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation is holding strike action outside the Launceston General Hospital for 15 minutes on Wednesday afternoon.
It comes after several hundred nurses and midwives gathered outside the Royal Hobart Hospital last week calling for the state government to urgently address unsafe staffing levels.
“It sent a very strong message to the government that enough is enough,” ANMF state secretary Emily Shepherd said in a statement.
The union has rejected the state government’s offer to bring forward enterprise agreement negotiations if strike action is called off.
Premier and Health Minister Jeremy Rockliff, who on Friday opted not to head to New Zealand on a trade mission so he could focus on health system challenges, has urged the union to talk in good faith.
The union is seeking immediate resources, such as clinical coaches to provide support to nurses and midwives through their novice-to-expert transition.
“We’re hoping the government will come to the table with concrete solutions we can put back to members and, potentially, call off our strike action,” Ms Shepherd said.
The union also held strike action outside the Hobart Repatriation Hospital last week and is planning further strike action in the northwest in coming weeks.
