Up to 10,000 doctors in Victoria plan strike over pay and working conditions — ABC News Australia
In the Australian state of Victoria, up to 10,000 public hospital doctors plan to stop work for four hours on Thursday afternoon amid a dispute with the government over pay and working conditions. This will be the third protest action by medical workers in two months, ABC News reports.
Medical workers’ demands
Unions are seeking to cap shift lengths at 12.5 hours, reduce the maximum number of consecutive night shifts from seven to four, and secure a 28% pay rise over four years.
Simon Judkins, president of the Victorian branch of the Australian Medical Association, said negotiations with the state government have been ongoing for 14 months and have involved dozens of meetings, but medical workers have still not received any pay offer. According to him, three health ministers have changed in the state during that time.
Roderick McRae, president of the Victorian branch of the Australian Salaried Medical Officers Federation (ASMOF), said doctors are rostered for 84-hour working weeks and often work even longer in emergencies. He described fatigue and professional burnout among medical workers as a systemic problem that, in his view, creates an unacceptable risk to patient safety.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
Hospital operations
Unlike previous protests at a number of medical facilities in Melbourne and regional areas of Victoria, the current action is expected to cover the entire state. The unions said emergency departments and intensive care units would not be affected by the strike. In a joint statement, they also said staffing levels would remain higher than on a Saturday.
At the same time, the Australian Medical Association warned of possible disruptions to scheduled surgeries. A previous attempt to hold a statewide strike was postponed after the Victorian Hospitals’ Industrial Association told the Fair Work Commission that insufficient notice had been given of the protest.
Government representative Tim Richardson said that Victoria’s Minister for Health and Mental Health, Ingrid Stitt, is working to support medical workers and that the government seeks to secure a beneficial agreement for doctors. Meanwhile, Shadow Health Minister Georgie Crozier criticised the state government for failing to make a pay offer.
