MGT5ERN Employment Relations - 1986 Nurses Strike Dispute Assignment Help

The nurses’ strike of 1986 is one of the longest strike that history has seen. It inflamed the politician and the industrial arena of that time (Ross, 1987). It was a battle against the union of nurses and the government officials on wages and better working conditions. Examining what led to such an extensive strike, it is important to shed light on the basic challenges of the Nursing industry. 

THE NURSING INDUSTRY

The Australian Health Industry comprises of a large unit of nurses (George, 1989). In 2017, the number of registered nurses amounted to 379,699, out of which, 323,122 were employed. 60.1% of these nurses were employed by the public sector (Nurses and Midwives, 2017). History has witnessed multiple attempts at negotiation by the unions over disputes on pay and working condition. Nurses are overworked, underpaid and understaffed throughout their careers. After years of dispute, negotiation, bans and strikes, the efforts of the 1986 strike finally resulted in the favor of the nursing staff. 

Starting April 1975, 4000 nurses marched the Victorian Parliament demanding better wages and better working conditions (Graetz, 1989). Between 1977 – 1979, the nurses of New South Wales and Queensland were involved in multiple strikes, bans and picketing. The heat eventually died down but picked up again during 1982 when the government declared deductions in the health care budget by 1.5% that led to decreased wages and loss of jobs as a result of reduction in the number of hospital beds (Bridgen, 2013). 18 months into the negotiations, the nurses finally went on a complete strike out on November 1983 withdrawing all labor and services with the aim of protesting against the budget cuts.  

During the same period, The Royal Australian Nurses Federation (RANF) was working towards removing the “no-strike” clause imposed during The Great Depression (George, 1989). By 1984, the RANF was finally able to dump the no-strike clause marking a start to the nationwide strikes. 

By 1984, further strikes and bans on non-nursing duties continued by the New South Wales nurses that eventually led the government to the decision of hiring 300 additional non nursing staff funded from the nursing budget (Bridgen, 2013).  As a response to the decision, the RANF continued the bans until the government was forced to declare the hiring of 700 additional non nursing resources by 1985; one that is not funded by the nursing budgets.

EXTERNAL INFLUENCES

Overall, the nurses feel that their dedication and skills have been taken for granted throughout history. The care giving nature of their jobs has been used as a weapon to discourage them from conducting prolonged strikes. The profession, although highly dominated by females, is one that requires to extend care, empathy and warmth towards patients. This is often the reason why females dominate the profession globally (James, 2016). In 1985, the Australian Healthcare Industry experienced the impact of technological innovation with improved equipment. As a result, patients were treated faster leading to higher turnovers. However, the new equipment needed more manpower. Increased turnover of patient resulted in increased non nursing responsibilities such as paperwork of admission and discharge (James, 2016). The stress was building up and essence of the patient- nurse relationship that is built on warmth and care was suffering as nurses had to handle multiple patients as the same time. 

THE STRIKE BEGINS

Demanding better wages, increased staffing, improved working hours and objecting to non-nursing duties, the nurses took to the streets with the campaign called “Keep Nurses Nursing”. Bans were placed on wearing uniforms and working above the desired patient to nurse ratio.  As a response to the campaign, the health minister, David White, proposed better wages and working conditions that was not even close to what the nurses were demanding (Graetz, 1989). The plan was to be implemented over a period of 3 years with a no strike policy and a commitment of increased productivity. 

The union and the nurses rejected the proposal. A 5 day strike continued with only skeleton staff at the hospitals and ended with the government beginning to negotiate on non-nursing duties only. As negotiations continued, the nurses went back to work. By August 1986, after the complete revoke of qualification allowance, the massive strike began where nurses completely walked out of hospitals including emergencies and ICUs. The government retaliated by threating to hold up national wages, having protestors arrested and using the police to break the picketing (Bridgen, 2013).The government was not willing to negotiate as they believed that the nurses would eventually give in (Graetz, 1989). They declared the State Enrolled Nurses were to be used in the hospitals. This made things worse. Eventually, two days before the strike ended, the government declared to revoke their decision on use of the SEN however, they still did not give in to the claims of the union. Irene Bloger, the leading militant, stood her ground and supported the nurses’ strike (Ross, 1987). Eventually, the Cain government and David White agreed to the complete package of the union and the 50 day long strike came to an end with a massive victory in the favor of the nurses.