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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1999 Week 8 Hansard (25 August) . . Page.. 2416 ..
MR MOORE (continuing):
In February the ANF presented a log of claims to the department, demanding a whole-of-portfolio agreement. This ambit claim was seriously unacceptable to all agencies in the portfolio and was rejected by the department on behalf of all agencies. The cost of the ambit bid was extraordinary, even by ANF standards. In answer to a question yesterday I mentioned costs for the Government of up to $11m.
The period from the expiry of the old EBA in February until early August was characterised by extensive efforts by the Canberra Hospital management to grapple with an expenditure overrun beyond their budget which was originally estimated at $10m. During this period there were informal approaches by both sides but no formal negotiations. During July the parties began to communicate more vigorously about the need for a new EBA. In due course the Canberra Hospital presented the ANF with a draft agreement, on 4 August. It expected that serious negotiations would commence immediately.
To this date my understanding is that the ANF has still not given the hospital a formal response to this draft. Instead, the ANF responded by convincing its members to begin bans at the Canberra Hospital workplaces. These included administrative disruptions but also refusal of nurses to cooperate in normal practices of deployment between wards to relieve in areas of higher activity. In response, the Canberra Hospital sought the involvement of the Industrial Relations Commission, which recommended:
I do, however, recommend that such action not proceed in advance of further, more meaningful negotiations between the parties.
It also said:
In my view further negotiation is warranted before any industrial action is taken. That negotiation should proceed immediately and should include all parties necessary to enable an agreement to be concluded, if such agreement is, in fact, possible.
Mr Osborne, that is the negotiation you would have expected to take place. That is when the hospital was ready to negotiate, and the ANF decided they would ignore the recommendation of the Industrial Relations Commission. After they put their case and the hospital put their case, the referee said that that is what should happen. The hospital was prepared to do it.
The Canberra Hospital management's current position is that although negotiations should be joined as soon as possible they should not commence until industrial action - stoppages and bans on deployment between wards - ceases. However, during this period the ANF has subjected the hospital to a significant range of industrial actions, all of which disrupt service to patients. These disruptions have been totally unnecessary. A four-person negotiating team consisting of senior nurse managers has been waiting for some time to continue that negotiation. Furthermore, the Nursing Federation has rejected out of hand advances by the hospital on a number of occasions to commence negotiations.
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