Victorian public hospital doctors are on the verge of their first industrial action in 20 years after agreeing on Monday to push ahead with the process that would greenlight overtime bans and potential strike action.
The Australian Medical Association Victoria (AMA) and the union, the Australian Salaried Medical Officers’ Federation, have been negotiating a new pay deal for public hospital doctors for 10 months but have hit a stalemate and have accused the state government of backflipping on key requests.
A meeting of more than 2000 members on Monday night agreed to apply for a protected action order with the Fair Work Commission, which would then allow them to hold a ballot authorising campaigns, strikes and other industrial action. There were just 12 votes against the move.
The last major industrial action by Victorian hospital doctors was a stop-work meeting in 2002.
If the action goes ahead, public hospital doctors would join teachers fighting with the Allan government for a better pay deal.
At Monday’s meeting, they discussed three stages of escalating action to roll out if their ballot is successful.
The first stage would include public campaigning, such as posters, shirts, email auto-replies, and disruptions to administrative and billing processes.
The second stage would include refusing unscheduled overtime and events where overtime will not be paid. The third stage would escalate into strikes and work stoppages, so long as they don’t impact patient safety.
“Our members have the ultimate say on which industrial actions would be taken,” an AMA spokesperson said.
“At first, our actions will focus on public campaigning and visibility, but actions of increasing disruptiveness will be on the table in the coming months right up to and including potential stop-work actions if the government continues to ignore doctors.”
The spokesperson said any proposed actions would also be planned to minimise impacts on patient care.
AMA Victoria president Dr Simon Judkins said they would not compromise patient safety.
“But it gets to a point where enough is enough … We’re going to have to draw a line in the sand [by taking some form of protected action],” he said.
“Hopefully, the public will be on board to support what we’re trying to achieve. Ultimately, this boils down to making sure that we’ve got the right people in the right place with the right supports.”
In February, the original claim put to the government included a 30 per cent pay rise over four years, but AMA Victoria says the government is yet to make its own formal wages offer.
In comparison, teachers rejected an offer of 28 per cent over four years, which fell well short of a headline demand of 35 per cent over three years.
Judkins said a key sticking point was access to overtime, and they had pushed for a system that made it easier to apply for and receive pay for hours worked above and beyond their roster.
He said the government accepted this but later rejected it.
“They’ve literally told us it’s going, that’s going to be too expensive, so they can’t afford to do it,” Judkins said.
“Demands are increasing. There’s a lot of people who are doing a lot of work without getting remunerated for it.
“This is not just about money it is about working conditions to make sure that doctors can be the best that they can be, and they’re not exhausted and burnt out.”
AMA Victoria says the government has also refused to match parental leave entitlements similar to those in other parts of the public service outside medicine.
Health Minister Harriet Shing said negotiations were continuing in good faith.
“Victorian doctors provide world-class treatment and care all over the state, and we will continue to support them,” she said.
The protected action order will now be filed with the Fair Work Commission.
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