Victorian public mental health workers are continuing our campaign for a decent enterprise agreement. 
More than 150 Health and Community Services Union (HACSU) members attended a state-wide meeting on 19 July at Victorian Trades Hall, where the union leadership informed members that we were having a “very different battle” with the state government than other public sector unions (including general nurses, public service and police) who had been able to reach deals. 
Lloyd Williams, HACSU state secretary, called out the government for not caring about mental health. He reported that, during negotiations, the government had complained of the higher cost of the mental health workforce (reportedly 1 percent more expensive than other areas of health). 
HACSU officials reported that agreement in principle had been made for around 17 clauses. However, sticking points remain, including decent staffing levels in high dependency units (HDU); leave equity for allied health staff; wages; long service leave for casuals; community team workload management; and a four-year deal (the general nurses’ union having agreed to an eight-year deal). 
The union officials said that, if the agreement was not made in the next few weeks, the campaign would be escalated to include night stoppages. During our last EBA campaign, managers were forced to staff some wards when nurses walked out during overnight shifts. 
On 26 July, we held our first two-hour stop-work at the Austin Hospital. Around 30 staff walked out and marched through the hospital grounds chanting, “No more cuts to mental health!”, “We’re angry, we’re loud, we’re HACSU and we’re proud!” and “1:2 in HDU!” One workmate commented that it was great to all be “in it together”. Another, as she joined the march, told me: “This is what we’ve got to do”.
Another state-wide meeting will be held in coming weeks to discuss the next step in the campaign.

Madilyn Gorman

‘We’re angry, we’re loud, we’re HACSU and we’re proud!’

Psychiatric nurses and allied health and ancillary staff in public mental health services across Victoria have been taking industrial action in order to secure a fair EBA.
The Health and Community Services Union (HACSU) is pursuing 50 claims, including an annual 4 percent pay rise, increased staff and greater protections around workload, staffing and seniority. None of the claims were agreed to in negotiations in the months prior to industrial action starting.
Protected action began at 12 services across Victoria in late May. A further four services recently joined the campaign after the first round of protected action ballots failed by a slim margin. The initial failure was in part due to the legal requirement to vote via post to take industrial action, rather than in a mass meeting, which undermined the collective spirit.
This, alongside increased delays with Australia Post and reliance on both the union and employer to provide correct addresses for members to the electoral commission, also reduced the number of people who voted. At one health service, names of members were not even provided because the bosses claimed that the workers there were covered by another union.
Protected action so far has included bans on a range of non-clinical duties such as paperwork. Two-hour stop-works have taken place at hospitals around the state.
The union’s focus for the campaign has been “staffing, services and safety”. Suicide is the leading cause of death for young people in Australia. But while service demand climbs, the public system continues to be whittled away.
As HACSU members have walked out, many have called for better services and for hospital bosses to do more to address workplace violence. The risk of assault while working in mental health services is unacceptably high. Services need higher staffing levels for the safety of workers and patients alike.
The union has reported that some claims have now been agreed to by the state government. However, so far none of the monetary claims have been settled.

Health workers fight for decent EBA

The Turnbull government has confirmed that it plans to outsource the Medicare payment system. Reports suggest that planning is well advanced and will involve privatisation of services associated with Medicare, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, Veterans’ Affairs and others services including aged care.
News of the plan follows the government’s December announcement that it will cut $650 million from the health care budget by scaling back bulk-billing incentives for pathology and imaging services. In the last two budgets, cuts to public health funding are estimated to total nearly $800 million. That’s on top of funding changes announced in 2014 that leave states $50 billion worse off over 10 years.
In January, Victoria was advised by the federal health minister, Sussan Ley, that its funding allocation would be cut by $73 million. The state government says that this funding is the equivalent of 180,000 emergency room presentations.
According to the Community and Public Sector Union, up 10,000 public sector jobs could be slashed if the payment services are outsourced. Ley has insulted these workers, dubbing them “backroom bureaucrats”.
Interest in running the outsourced service reportedly has come from the major banks, Australia Post, Telstra, Serco, Fuji-Xerox and Accenture, among others.
The Medicare payment system is complex – changes that involve a less skilled workforce are likely to lead to errors. And private companies could be in a position to approve or deny access to public funding for health services.
Turnbull addressed criticisms of the plan by claiming that the government is simply seeking “a more efficient way of transacting”. Ley argues that the payment systems need to be modernised.
It is true that the current systems are outdated. The problem could easily be solved with a bit of extra funding – but that would be at odds with the government’s agenda. It has already commissioned a $5 million Department of Health taskforce to investigate the overhaul. Spending $5 million to get a handful health bureaucrats’ tick of approval for austerity is totally worth it, apparently.
This is just the thin edge of the wedge in the government’s agenda to privatise health care.

Federal government to privatise health services

About 150 Victorian disability and mental health workers marched to the steps of parliament on 20 August. Organised by the Health and Community Services Union (HACSU), the rally demanded a reversal of state government plans to privatise public services in the sector.
Addressing the rally, HACSU state secretary Lloyd Williams described a “perfect storm” of cuts, closures and contracting out affecting drug and alcohol, adult and aged mental health services. He spoke of “spiralling” violence against mental health workers in a system drained of resources.
Workers at the rally say they fear a drop in pay (by around 30 per cent), worsening conditions, poor resourcing and low unionisation levels in non-government and private disability services.
“The Department of Human Services don’t care about the most vulnerable people in the community”, said disability worker Deb Sturt. “They care about wiping their hands of them.” Deb works at the Sandhurst Centre in Bendigo, a government-run facility that has been in the shadow of closure for 14 months.
Sandhurst workers have been fighting a locally based campaign against closure and for job certainty. Speaking to Red Flag, Deb said that a new, privately run service will seek to employ less qualified, lower paid staff. Many of Sandhurst’s 80 staff have worked there for decades and have developed important relationships with residents.
The minister for disability services, Mary Woolridge, says that a new private facility in Bendigo will provide more “flexible and innovative” accommodation. Deb says the change will leave a complex client group at great risk of distress without expert staff to care for them.
Victorian state opposition leader Daniel Andrews promised the rally that a Labor government would not sell off mental health and disability care and that Sandhurst residents would be placed in public facilities.
Later that day, the Napthine government announced it would fast-track the Sandhurst tendering, which will place residents in privately run services.
HACSU’s campaign strategy appears to be based on securing the election of a Labor government in the November state elections. But cuts, closures and privatisation are not solely the product of Liberal governments. Unionists will need to wage grassroots campaigns to save quality public mental health and disability services even if the government changes.

Vic government ‘wiping hands’ of vulnerable

When you work in a hospital sometimes it feels like the call for “workers of the world unite” is a goal pretty far from reach. In just one hospital workers can be in six or so separate unions. Our EBAs are negotiated at different times making joint “protected” industrial action very difficult. Departments can be so specialised that workers in one area often have no call to speak with workers on the next ward. Hierarchy reigns supreme.
But when the ruling class proposes a broad attack on the health system we have an opportunity to raise something at work that everyone can rally around.
In Victoria, Socialist Alternative has delegates and active unionists in all four branches of the health workers’ unions (HWU, HACSU, VHPA, 4th branch) and in the nurses and midwives union (ANMF).
When a rally against the proposed Medicare co-payment scheme was announced we immediately pushed for our unions to start promoting the rally. Most health unions built the rally online and HACSU and the 4th branch sent material to all of their members. Importantly, this was followed up by most of these unions having a presence at the rally, with some speaking from the front, largely because of our efforts.
In our workplaces, Socialist Alternative members put up posters in tea rooms and hospital cafeterias. We spoke to our work mates, got the rally details out to friends and delegates in other health services. We handed out leaflets in hospital foyers and argued with other delegates to raise the issue with members in their areas.
Most of us were met with general agreement and a willingness to talk about the issue. It was harder to convince co-workers to come to the rally but the issue has provided a chance to have discussions about why public opposition to attacks like this is important. It has been helpful for identifying others at work that might be willing to be more active in the workplace and take the first steps in building a united effort to save public health.

‘We’re angry, we’re loud, we’re HACSU and we’re proud!’

Health workers fight for decent EBA

Federal government to privatise health services

Vic government ‘wiping hands’ of vulnerable

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