Wednesday, November 09, 2011

Vic: Govt plans hospitals lock out

The Age 09 November

Victorian public hospitals have received detailed advice on how to conduct a Qantas-style lockout of nurses, and to consider using a strike-breaking workforce in the event of industrial unrest.

The advice to hospitals, from a group representing them in industrial negotiations, also told managers they should photograph protesting nurses and record the number plates of any potential organisers of unlawful industrial action.

The lengthy ''private and confidential'' advice was sent by the Victorian Hospitals Industrial Association last week and includes a range of form letters that employers would give to workers if they locked them out.

There are also prepared ''scripts'' on how to tell nurses they have been stood down or will not be paid if they engage in partial work bans.

Australian Nursing Federation state secretary Lisa Fitzpatrick said the planning for a lockout was an ''amazing'' over-reaction to any industrial action nurses might take, and could result in hospitals being closed by employer industrial action.

''It's a total lack of appreciation and understanding of who nurses are and what we do,'' Ms Fitzpatrick said. ''Nurses stayed at work while their pay was being docked when taking industrial action during the 2007 campaign.''

Ms Fitzpatrick said the approach seemed to be to ''put the fear of god into nurses'' and to encourage a ''rogue employer'' to do a lockout.

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