HSU critical of interference in nurses pay dispute

HSU WA secretary Dan Hill has criticised the interference of Opposition leader Colin Barnett in the nurses pay dispute.

HSU Secretary Dan Hill said it is not surprising that the nurses' union was unable to reach an agreement with Labor when there were secret backroom negotiations running with Colin Barnett.

"Colin Barnett made a decision to interfere in the nurses pay dispute for his own political gain and caused the delays in the pay dispute by removing any incentive for Mark Olson to negotiate in good faith with the Health Department," Mr Hill said.

"If Mark Olson had put as much effort into negotiating with the Labor Government as he has in negotiating with the Liberal Opposition then it is likely that a deal would have been reached.

"The upshot of this disgraceful intervention by the Liberals is that West Australian tax payers may have to pay an extra $50 million to settle the pay negotiations and patients will be harmed by a politically engineered strike."

"In this context it is not surprising that Labor are referring the dispute to the arbitrator.

"It was the arbitrator who found last year that Mark Olson was not serious about reaching a settlement. Of course he wasn't because Colin Barnett was dangling the prospect of a secret election deal."

"Now the ANF leadership are telling their members to preference every man and his dog including One Nation above Labor.

"This political stunt-work by Barnett and Olson is hijacking the real health debate, and as usual the only real losers are the West Australians who will have their surgery cancelled."

printer-friendly version

© 2003 Health Services Union (HSU)
This page: http://www.hsua.org.au/campaigns/puthealthfirst/news/1108681928_10032.html
Last Modified: Wednesday, 16-Nov-2005 17:19:26 EST