By Aaron Cordy
THOUSANDS of Victorian healthcare workers, including hospital pharmacists and scientists, have engaged in strikes and industrial action over pay disputes and unsafe workloads, with local Health Care representatives giving a strong showing outside of GV health.
Union representatives have attempted to negotiate a new Enterprise Bargaining Agreement, which ran out months ago, for almost a year, with the state government offering a woeful 3 per cent pay rise.
The Medical Scientists Association of Victoria (MSAV), the Association of Hospital Pharmacists (AHP) and the Victorian Psychologists Association Inc. (VPA) are asking for the equivalent pay rise that the states nurses justly received a 7.1 per cent.
“70 per cent of clinical decisions in medicine are based on pathology. So, a lot of the medical scientists do not get re-enumerated based on what we do,” said local member of the strike.
“We’re the heart of healthcare, and yet, we’re always at the back, hidden. But everything that you see in the hospital, most of the outcomes are based on pathology. Some medical scientists have been there for years and years and years, doing the hard work, but with minimal recognition.”
Along with the dismal 3 per cent increase, AHP stop work action was to address the Department of Health’s lack of consideration for:
- No dedicated educator EFT built into training pharmacists.
- Lowest paid interns across all health field in Victoria.
- No clear grade progression for pharmacists working at Advanced Scoop.
Understanding the nature of the care they provide, the strikers locally and across the state made sure the stop work action had a minimal effect on patients’ needs, while showing a strong front to the state government.
