Vic: Hospitals move to block nurse work bans

AAP General News (Australia)
08-10-2001
Vic: Hospitals move to block nurse work bans

MELBOURNE, Aug 10 AAP - Hospital chiefs and the Victorian government moved to halt
nurses' work bans at a hearing in the Australian Industrial Commission today.

From 7am (AEST) today, nurses began closing one in three public hospital beds and cancelling
one-third of all elective surgery.

Hospital chiefs placed an urgent application before the Australian Industrial Relations
Commission (AIRC) to be heard at noon.

The matter was suspended before the hearing began as both sides resumed negotiations
behind closed doors.

But the talks broke down at 4.30pm, with Victorian Hospital Industrial Association
Chief Executive Alec Djoneff blaming nurses for refusing to remove the bans.

The dispute flared up in June when nurses accused the government and the AIRC of backing
down on an agreement on nurse numbers signed last August.

The government, supported by Commissioner Wayne Blair, have claimed it was the nurses
who reneged on the deal by closing hospital beds.

The matter came to a head yesterday when more than 2,000 nurses attended a stop-work
meeting and voted to close one in three beds and drastically cut elective surgery.

Today's hearing is being heard before AIRC senior deputy president Ian Watson.

A verdict is expected later tonight.

AAP jmw/mf/gfr/cd/sb

KEYWORD: NURSES VIC LEAD

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