Deductions in Ambulance worker pay is an attack on all
Deductions in Ambulance worker pay is an attack on all health sector workers
Health Sector Workers Network (HSWN) stand with ambulance officers from First Union and also condemn a decision by St John to deduct 10 per cent from their wages for refusing to wear uniforms as part of a strike action.
Across the health sector, all
workers are experiencing the stress of increased workloads
and unsafe working conditions. The health system is being
squeezed by government austerity measures. This affects
workers, their conditions, and ultimately the people health
workers are all trying to help. This is affects us all,
“an injury to one is an injury to
all”.
“I’m sure there will be a lot of
people throughout the health sector and in communities all
across Aotearoa/New Zealand, who will be siding with the
ambulance officers, they are the face and the lifeblood of
the service… and the ambos are the ones who need the
support from other workers in the health sector.” says
Kieran Monaghan (Registered Nurse and Member of Health
Sector Workers Network)”
“This whole episode
highlights the deep underfunding of our national healthcare
services. Many detrimental health impacts are now presenting
from the austerity-like funding structures. These impacts
include a reduction of accountable service provision via
privatisation, a crisis in Mental Health care provision from
Primary Care to Crisis intervention and inadequate health
prevention and promotion, from healthy homes, to the loss of
community based health-initiatives. Some reports are putting
the health budget at nearly $1.85 billion dollars short of
where we should be… that’s the real story here. And if
this was not bad enough there are the new legislative
abilities employers are able to use to stop workers
organising for better conditions.”
We are
calling on health sector workers and communities across
Aotearoa/New Zealand to support the ambulance workers. These
drastic measures are outrageous and we need to put a stop to
them. This same scenario will continue to be played out
again and again in other health sector union negotiations.
Their fight is our fight.
http://hswn.org.nz/deductions-pay-ambulance-attack-health-workers/
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