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 Home News General
Medicare Day of Action tomorrow21 October 2003Health workers will take part in the HSU's National Medicare Day of Action tomorrow which will include rallies and meetings at hospitals and other sites around the country.
Hospital staff and ambulance officers will take part in the day of action activities in NSW, Victoria, Western Australia and Tasmania. The Health Services Union has organised the day of action due to widespread concern among members about the impact that the decline of Medicare is having on them at work and at home. The HSU's NSW secretary and national president Michael Williamson said a rally of members would be held at Health Minister Tony Abbott's office at Manly with Medicare card petitions containing thousands of signatures to be presented to the minister. Opposition Health spokeswoman Julie Gillard will be on hand to address the rally. Mr Williamson said healthworkers wanted to show they supported decent funding for Medicare and for public hospitals. "There is no more pressing issue for people working in health than the deliberate campaign by the Federal Government to run down Medicare,'' he said. "It makes it harder for members to find affordable healthcare for their families and at work they are busier and busier as more people turn to the public health system for care." Meetings will vote on a motion calling for a one per cent increase in the Medicare levy with the money raised devoted entirely to health. Mr Williamson said the delegates at the ALP's NSW State Conference earlier this month had supported the union's call for that increase. HSU national secretary Craig Thomson said the day of action would be the biggest activity staged by the union and was an important step in the union's campaign to make sure bulk-billing rates were raised and that public hospitals received at least $1 billion extra in funding from the Federal Government. Media Advisory: Healthworkers will meet outside the St Matthews Church on the Manly corso (1 Darley Road) at 1pm tomorrow before marching to Tony Abbott's office at 17 Sydney Road Manly for a rally at 1.20pm.
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© 2003 Health Services Union (HSU) |
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