The Health Sector Workers Network is supporting ambulance officers from First Union

The Health Sector Workers Network (HSWN) is supporting ambulance officers from First Union, who had 10% docked from their pay for refusing to wear uniforms during a strike action. Kieran Monaghan, a Registered Nurse and member of HSWN, said “This whole episode highlights the deep underfunding of our national healthcare services. Many detrimental health impacts are now presenting from the austerity-like funding structures. These impacts include a reduction of accountable service provision via privatization, a crisis in Mental Health care provision from Primary Care to Crisis intervention and inadequate health prevention and promotion, from healthy homes, to the loss of community based health-initiatives. Some reports are putting the health budget at nearly $1.85 billion dollars short of where we should be… that's the real story here. And if this was not bad enough there are the new legislative abilities employers are able to use to stop workers organizing for better conditions.