1986 Strike
Antecedents of the Strike
The strike was precipitated by three significant events. The first event was the strike that occurred in 1985. During 1985, nurses had taken action in response to their concerns over wages, the career structure and their objection to non-nursing duties through the “Keep Nurses Nursing” campaign. Nurses worked out of uniform and refused to engage agency staff. On October 11th 1985, Vic Branch members resolved to strike indefinitely throughout Victoria, from October 17th onwards, in objection to the ongoing obligation of nurses to perform ‘non-nursing duties’. Having voted to remove the ‘no strike clause’ from Branch rules in 1984, this strike marked the first time that the Victorian nurses had ever voted to strike. The strike lasted 5 days and served as a precursor to the strike the following year.
The second key antecedent for the strike was the election of Irene Bolger as Branch Secretary. Bolger had run unsuccessfully against Barbara Carson in 1985, but in May 1986, Irene Bolger won the election for Branch Secretary against the interim Secretary, Robyn Millership. From her campaign and subsequent policies, it was clear that Bolger was committed to forging an industrial consciousness with in the Federation. Within two years, Bolger more than doubled the number of industrial staff, from 5 to 11. In August 1986 she contributed an editorial to the Australian Nurses Journal entitled “Unity Brings Change.” Bolger stated that in order for nurses to obtain tangible improvements in working conditions, the RANF required the ‘recruitment of industrially aware nurses into Branch Office’, which would ensure a ‘common feeling of unity and purpose by all Branch staff...necessary to achieve these improvements for our members.” (Ellinghaus, 14) Bolger had forged a reputation as a militant leader, but also a charismatic and inspiring public speaker. Her presence was crucial in engendering an industrial spirit within the Branch and the members. As Lisa Fitzpatrick described:
[The strike] would have happened without her, I believe, but I don’t know that it would have had the same support. I think...she was very charismatic and I felt that nurses either loved her or hated her. But I think the majority had a respect for her because she was doing something. (Colson, 75)
The third factor was the award handed down by the State Industrial Relations Commission in June 1986. The new award and career structure was intended to attract nurses back into the profession, but in fact heightened the resentment among nurses towards the Commission and the State Government. The uncertainty of certain provisions of the award, particularly around the classification of Grade 1 and 2 Registered nurses resulted in the RANF and the Health Department of Victoria remaining completely at odds as to the interpretation of the new award. While the award ostensibly increased nursing funding by $54.7 million, the new career structure resulted in large scale demotions for nurses, owing to new categorisations of Grade 1 and Grade 2 nurses, and a cap placed on nurses in higher pay brackets. Qualification allowances were reduced by more than half, and student nurses in Victoria earned $64 less per week than their NSW counterparts. Midwives were classified as Grade 1 nurses despite years of additional experience and an extra year of study. The Victorian Government maintained that the new career structure agreed to by the RANF in June 1986 had increased funding for nurses by $54.7 million. Having regard to the difficult economic climate, the Government saw this as a legitimate and reasonable agreement. Where implementation problems remained with the award, any concerns should be resolved not through industrial action but through negotiation and arbitration in the State Industrial Relations Commission. The Government saw the IRC as being the only organisation capable of resolving the dispute.
In addition to these three events, the systemic problems facing the nursing profession placed an enormous strain on individual nurses. The nursing profession in Victoria was in a tenuous state in 1986. More than 10,000 nurses had left the profession in 1985, and another 8,000 had not renewed their practising certificate, leaving the State with a shortfall of about 14,000. (Ross) Nurses were dissatisfied with the failure of the Government and hospital administrators to take them seriously as a professional body. As explained by former RANF President Isabell Collins:
Money does not keep people out like that. It had nothing to do with money. It was these 20 to 30 years of just not being listened to – of talking about ‘patient care isn’t what it ought to be, isn’t what it needs to be’, and nobody listening – that took people out. (Colson, 83)
The University of Melbourne
Published Sources
Books
- Colson, Ilsa, More than just the money: 100 years of the Victorian Nurses Union, Victoria: Prowling Tiger Press, 2001
Journal Articles
- Ross, Liz, 'Dedication doesn't pay the rent! The 1986 Victorian nurses' strike', Hecate, vol XIII (1) 1987
Thesis
- Ellinghaus, Katherine, 'The Radicalisation of Florence Nightingale: The Victorian Nurses' Strike of 1986', Honours Thesis, University of Melbourne, 1995