Olson backs down
When Mark Olson joined Colin Barnett’s campaign team, he said he would be encouraging nurses to endorse the deal by voting Liberal, and he was “supremely confident” that ANF members would “whole-heartedly endorse this initiative by the Coalition.” Unfortunately, it seems the nurses disagree, and now he is back-pedalling hard.
The LHMU, which represents some nurses and other hospital staff, reminded nurses of the Liberal Party’s record:
Under the previous Coalition Government, nurses should remember that they lost their accrued days off, senior nurses were forced onto workplace agreements, they saw the introduction of seven hour shifts and the loss of handover time. Every second nurse was an agency nurse.
The memory of Graham Kierath’s terrible reign seems to have struck a chord. According to the West Australian (p7):
But after Mr Barnett escaped [the LHMU's protest] to the safety of a private meeting to promote his pay offer to ANF nurses, the Liberals’ public relations exercise did not go entirely to plan either.
Sceptical ANF nurses at the meeting asked Mr Barnett if the coalition could afford the generous pay offer and also demanded an assurance that Mr Kierath would not be returned. “When Graham Kierath was health minister he wreaked havoc, it was not a happy time,” one ANF nurse told Mr Barnett.
By the end of the meeting, Mark Olson had changed his tune completely. “The ANF doesn’t tell its members how to vote,” he said. This afternoon he was on talkback radio getting the message out that he no longer wanted to have Colin Barnett’s babies.
This is a victory for common sense — and nurses. Labor should release its counter-offer soon, so that it can finally put the issue to bed.
Update: Other public sector unions demand similar promises from Colin Barnett.
Meanwhile, Olson responds to criticism by sledging his comrades as a “pack of misogynists” who don’t want to see women succeed. Interesting. The strongest criticism has come from the LHMU, whose membership is predominantly female — especially its health sector membership.
As I said in my previous comments, Olsen was back-pedalling as fast as he could.
I wonder how his “independant” candidates will do now ??????
Methinks his days as Head of the ANU are numbered :-)
Mark Olson got a result. The union left nurses hanging on for months without a resolution. Why are you bagging Mark for what the union could not achieve for its members?
Mark Olson got nothing.
He accepted a pay deal that’s less than Labor offered, and as for working conditions, he got a “commitment to negotiate” with no guarantee of anything.
When you say “union left nurses hanging on for months,” you mean Mark Olson left nurses hanging on for months. The AIRC said he wasn’t negotiating in good faith — he had his eye on the state election and a chance to put his face on the telly. He supports a Liberal Government and is using nurses to pursue his personal agenda.
Interesting to note The Libs have launched their Small Business Policy, and yes, Workplace Agreements are back !!!!
Mark, you are a complete and utter Wally !!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh and Federal Employment Minister Kevin Andrews come n to bat for Colin by trotting out the predictable lie about WA Being the Strike Capital of WA – http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200502/s1293765.htm
They conveniently forget what happened under Keirethand the Third Wave legislation !!!!!
I hope the voters keep that in mind on Feb 26th !!!!