Nurses in Australia’s most populous state went on strike yesterday, demanding better conditions after three years working amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 24-hour strike was the third statewide walkout by nurses and midwives this year, and came as tensions between “essential workers” and the New South Wales (NSW) government reached boiling point.
Train drivers have crippled Sydney’s rail network in the past few weeks with rolling strikes, while bus drivers and teachers across the state have also been locked in industrial disputes.
Photo: AFP
Outside Westmead Hospital in Sydney, a large crowd of striking medical workers formed a picket line, cheering loudly each time a passing driver beeped their horn in support.
One nurse held aloft a sign that read: “Stop telling us that we are ‘coping.’”
The union has called for a legislatively enforced ratio of patients to nurses, warning that care has been compromised because there are too many people coming into hospitals for help and too few staff on the wards.
Michael Whaites, assistant general secretary of the NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association, told the crowd that patients had been kept in emergency for up to 110 hours because there were not enough hospital beds.
“The system is sick, and we are sick and tired of carrying the weight of it on our backs,” he said.
Soaring inflation in Australia has ratcheted up years of tension over nurses’ pay, after annual increases for many public-sector workers were frozen by the state government early in the pandemic.
In June, after two statewide strikes, the NSW government offered workers a A$3,000 (US$2,045) bonus and promised to recruit more nurses and midwives.
However, Whaites said yesterday that the government’s recruitment promise was just “shoving more people into a system as more and more people leave.”
The state government has also faced mounting pressure from workers in other essential industries, including the striking train drivers.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet on Wednesday threatened to tear up the state’s offer to rail workers if there were any further strikes.
“This ends today,” he said.
FLYBY: The object, appears to be traveling more than 60 kilometers per second, meaning it is not bound by the sun’s orbit, astronomers studying 3I/Atlas said Astronomers on Wednesday confirmed the discovery of an interstellar object racing through the solar system — only the third-ever spotted, although scientists suspect many more might slip past unnoticed. The visitor from the stars, designated 3I/Atlas, is likely the largest yet detected, and has been classified as a comet, or cosmic snowball. “It looks kind of fuzzy,” said Peter Veres, an astronomer with the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center, which was responsible for the official confirmation. “It seems that there is some gas around it, and I think one or two telescopes reported a very short tail.” Originally known as A11pl3Z before
Hundreds of protesters marched through the Mexican capital on Friday denouncing gentrification caused by foreigners, with some vandalizing businesses and shouting “gringos out!” The demonstration in the capital’s central area turned violent when hooded individuals smashed windows, damaged restaurant furniture and looted a clothing store. Mexico City Government Secretary Cesar Cravioto said 15 businesses and public facilities were damaged in what he called “xenophobic expressions” similar to what Mexican migrants have suffered in other countries. “We are a city of open arms... there are always ways to negotiate, to sit at the table,” Cravioto told Milenio television. Neighborhoods like Roma-Condesa
‘CONTINUE TO SERVE’: The 90-year-old Dalai Lama said he hoped to be able to continue serving ‘sentient beings and the Buddha Dharma’ for decades to come The Dalai Lama yesterday said he dreamed of living for decades more, as the Buddhist spiritual leader prayed with thousands of exiled Tibetans on the eve of his 90th birthday. Thumping drums and deep horns reverberated from the Indian hilltop temple, as a chanting chorus of red-robed monks and nuns offered long-life prayers for Tenzin Gyatso, who followers believe is the 14th reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. Looking in good health, dressed in traditional maroon monk robes and a flowing yellow wrap, he led prayers — days after confirming that the 600-year-old Tibetan Buddhist institution would continue after his death. Many exiled Tibetans
BRICS leaders are to meet in Rio de Janeiro from today, with the bloc depleted by the absence of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), who is skipping the annual summit of emerging economies for the first time in 12 years. The grouping meets as its members face imminent and costly tariff wars with the US. Conceived two decades ago as a forum for fast-growing economies, the BRICS have come to be dominated by Beijing, which grew much faster and larger than the rest. China has not said why Xi would miss the summit, a first since he became president in 2013. “I expect there
RSS