About 800 aged care nurses and carers from across 26 Bupa nursing homes are set to take protected industrial action this week.
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Staff from Bupa Ballarat will start ongoing action on Tuesday from 7am, with the first stage to include wearing campaign t-shirts, handing out campaign materials, bans on certain paperwork and speaking to the media.
The Victorian branch of the the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation union has been negotiating with Bupa management for improved staffing levels, skill mix, wages and working conditions for the past 14 months.
Acting secretary Paul Gilbert said the nurses and carers were only taking industrial action as a last resort, as they felt both stretched and undervalued.
The union said Bupa’s wage offer would keep its nurses’ and carers’ wages in the bottom 10 per cent of aged care facilities.
ANMF members were also seeking minimum staffing levels of registered nurses, enrolled nurses and personal care workers every shift to improve resident care.
