Last-Minute Court Ruling Orders Doctors to Call Off Strike
Image: Members of the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association marched down Macquarie Street to Parliament House on September 24, 2024. Image: RTBU/Facebook
The NSW government launched a last-minute court bid to prevent more disruption to the state’s public health system, which in turn ordered doctors to call off a planned three-day strike.
On Tuesday, both NSW Health and the Australian Salaried Medical Officers’ Federation (ASMOF NSW) were called in front of the Industrial Relations Commission to try and broker a deal after the doctors’ union rejected two previous pay offers.
The two parties could not agree on a final pay offer in the conciliation presided over by IRC acting justice Peter Kite.
The union and its members were ordered by the commission to abandon the planned strike and refrain from taking any industrial action for the next three months, according to a spokesman for NSW Health.
Doctors were also told they would face the risk of heavy fines if they defied the orders.
Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred, Westmead Children’s, Nepean, Hornsby and Wollongong are among the hospitals where doctors have voted to strike.
A staff specialist from Westmead hospital who isn’t authorised to speak publicly said at least 100 colleagues at the hospital had planned to walk off the job, which would’ve affected specialties including surgery, anaesthetics, and emergency.
Similar to the nurse and midwife strikes last year, while essential services will still remain, elective procedures, clinics and appointments would need to be cancelled or postponed, said the doctor.
Just the latest in health care system disputes
Public hospital doctors are paid an average annual salary of $222,017, according to NSW Health workforce data for the last financial year.
ASMOF is demanding an up to 30% pay raise to match the wages of other states. Other demands include enforceable safe working hours to protect patient and staff safety, penalty rates for working unsociable hours and leave entitlements “that promote work-life balance and fatigue management”.
The planned strike comes after more than a year of negotiations and is just the latest industrial dispute within the state’s health system since Premier Chris Minns lifted the wages cap in 2023.
The unions and state government are expected to return to the industrial court on Friday to deliver their closing statements for a separate deal regarding psychiatrists who threatened mass resignations in their own pay dispute.
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