Last Friday (September 4) the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) released details of 49 new awards as part of the award modernisation process introduced by the federal government.
Assistant Federal Secretary of the Australian Nursing Federation, Lee Thomas said the new award for aged care was a perverse outcome that no one in the community would support.
"As people begin to understand the ramifications of this decision they will feel disillusioned and angry that the Rudd Government could allow this to happen. Asking nurses who earn as little as $738 a week to take a pay cut of $88 a week is beyond belief. These cuts will undermine the quality of care for many older Australians and place real financial pressure on nurses and their families. It is of great concern that the largest cuts are directed at the most qualified and experienced nurses - with a registered nurse with eight years experience losing nearly $295 a week."
"This decision will affect over ten thousand aged care nurses in NSW alone. Some nurses may be protected by enterprise agreements but thousands rely on the award and it is unfair to expect these nurses to take a pay cut of up to 25% over the next five years. The effect will be to drive nurses out of the system and make it even more difficult to attract and retain quality staff to work in aged care facilities," she said.
Ms Thomas said Australians voted decisively against the Howard Government's Workchoices legislation at the last election and it was time for the Rudd Government to deliver a fair outcome.
NSW Nurses' Association General Secretary, Brett Holmes said the Federal Workplace Relations Minister, Julia Gillard must step in as a matter of urgency.
"The Federal Government must ensure that we have a minimum wages system that does not cut wages nor lead to a wages freeze which would result in a real wages cut as a result of inflation over the next five years," Mr Holmes said.
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