The FNV trade union and other unions involved in negotations for the maternity care sector cut short the latest round of talks in protest at the employers' failure to come up with a reasonable offer. The unions argue that the employers' offer actually represents a deterioration for workers and that it will do nothing to address the urgent recruitment situation resulting from an ageing workforce and workers leaving the sector, particularly for other parts of the health service where pay and conditions are better. The unions are looking for a serious offer from the employers before negotiations resume on 5 June.
Unions cut short maternity care sector negotiations
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Disappointing start to negotiations for maternity nurses
Employers have made a disappointing offer in the opening of negotiations covering maternity nurses with an increase of only 2.75% for 2020 on the table, along with a change to mileage allowances. In contrast, the union side has a much more ambitious range of demands including a 5% wage increase for 2020, reimbursement of all travel time, waiting shifts paid as contract hours, an increase of the end-of-year bonus from 6.2% to 8.33% and reimbursement of all training costs.
Pay rises for workers in energy and maternity care
After difficult negotiations in the energy production and supply sector the FNV trade union is asking members to vote on a collective agreement that will provide a 4% pay increase from 1 May 2022. The agreement will run for 14 months to 1 July 2023 and includes proposals to discuss how to ensure the agreement will help tackle the major challenges faced by the sector. Key to the discussions will be work pressure, policies on older workers and how to deal with the shortage of technical staff. Meanwhile, there were also challenging negotiations in the maternity sector where a new 18-month