Today HACSU appeared in the Tasmanian Industrial Commission to register the latest Nurses and Midwives Agreement.
 
The new agreement contains a range of improvements., and the main ones are: 

• Salary increases on 1 December every year from 2019 – 2022
• Additional top increments in grades 3, 4, 5, 6, 7a and 7b
• Increase to the professional development fund
• Overtime rates for day workers in specific units named in the agreement
• A defined career pathway for Tasmanian midwives and nurses

 
At the same hearing, the parties agreed to some award variations that captured a range of matters and made them part of the award - these centre around the improvements we won together during the recent bargaining round.
 
The variations include: 

• Additional superannuation benefits for workers on parental leave and workers compensation
• The insertion of provisions from the agreement that relate to in-charge, meal, post graduate and rural and remote allowances
• Two meal breaks for 12-hour shifts
• Improved parental leave

The final matter dealt with at the hearing was the registration of the Caseload Midwifery Agreement that provides for a range of improvements for those employed as Caseload Midwives.

Tasmanian public sector workers are the first in Australia to knock off a government wages policy without changing the government, and members should be justifiably proud of that.

We know that more is needed for nurses and midwives in all sorts of services across the state and we know they're all working even harder than usual in response to the pandemic.

We’ll have some more info soon on how long back pay will take, and we’ll get that out as soon as we can.