Tasmanian nurses to vote on new contract, with union claiming wins

The Australian Nurses and Midwifery Federation Tasmanian Branch (ANMF) has received a revised offer from the state government after 10 months of bargaining for a replacement enterprise agreement.

This is yet to be voted on by union membership, but if adopted public sector nurses, midwives and assistants in nursing would receive as much as a $3000 increase to their base salaries, with pay rises locked in for three years.

The first of these comes into effect after 1 December 2023 and is a 3.5 per cent pay rise, followed by 3 per cent pay rises in 2024 and 2025.

The base salary increase includes a $1000 cost of living payment, and the $500 low income payment awarded to all public sector workers earning below a certain threshold.

ANMF branch secretary Emily Shepherd said the 'right to disconnect' entitlement - something secured after months of bargaining - was another major win.

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Ms Shepherd said it drastically improved the quality of life of healthcare professionals, many of whom were being contacted outside of work hours even if they were not on-call.

"Some of our members were being contacted outside of their work hours, getting up to 80 phone calls a month,' Ms Shepherd said.

"They'd get those calls at 5.30 in the morning on a day off asking them to come in or at 9.30, 10 o'clock at night.

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"The entitlement gives them the downtime that they need, to be able to rest and have an actual break from work rather than thinking about it constantly on their days off."

The ANMF rejected the initial offer made in July on behalf of members, saying they were not adequately remunerated for their work experience.

At the time, Ms Shepherd said the first offer did not reflect discussions held between the parties.

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Ms Shepherd said the revised offer addressed critical concerns of recruitment, retention and recognition, as nurses would be paid at or above the national average.

She said union leadership was happy with the concessions made by the government, however said it was up to the membership to decide.

"The fact that the final wages proposal is equitable for all of our members across all classification levels, and is at the national average or above does indicate that the government have listened," Ms Shepherd said.

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"Of course, it will be up to our members to give their final endorsement to the agreement by a formal vote, but certainly I feel that we have moved a long way."

Premier Jeremy Rockliff said discussions had been protracted, but they had resulted in mutually-beneficial outcomes.

"We've sat down in good faith negotiations," Mr Rockliff said.

"I'm proud of them sitting down in a very measured and reasonable way where we can work through the matters that are important to state public service, to the hard-working nurses, police officers and firies.

"I welcome that discussion, and how those discussions have progressed to this point."

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