SA nurses and midwives reject government pay rise offer

South Australia's public sector nurses and midwives have rejected a state government offer of a 16 per cent pay increase over three years.It means the government will ask the South Australian Employment Tribunal to arbitrate the matter and make a final decision on the enterprise agreement. On Thursday, the state branch of the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) acknowledged the majority decision of its voting members, after the union previously recommended members accept the government's offer."We know that it was a difficult decision for many [nurses] but the outcome is very clear," said ANMF SA chief executive Elizabeth Dabars.ANMF SA said it had already anticipated the government would send the matter for arbitration and had briefed its legal teams to prepare in the event of a rejected vote. "We have been prepping up tirelessly in the background in preparation for an arbitration, and that is what we are now prepared to proceed with," Ms Dabars said. Elizabeth Dabars says the ANMF will continue to stand alongside its members. (ABC News)Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis said the vote outcome was "disappointing" and that the government's pay offer "balanced the needs of nurses and taxpayers". In early June, the ANMF SA called for a 23 per cent raise by the end of 2027, before recommending its members accept the government's last offer."The South Australian government was offering over 10 per cent in over 18 months which would have equated to a 16 per cent increase in people’s wages, if you included the administrative increases we gave earlier in the year," said Mr Koutsantonis. "Totalling, with all the compounding, about 17 per cent over two-and-a-half years which was a fairly significant increase."He said the matter was now bound for arbitration and "in the hands of the independent umpire"."They’ll decide whether or not the government’s offer was fair and reasonable or whether there should be more or less," he said.South Australian Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis says the decision is "disappointing". (ABC News: Ashlin Blieschke)More at stake than payBoth Ms Dabars and Mr Koutsantonis said issues like staffing numbers were at play in the voting process, including union calls for babies to be counted alongside mothers in staffing ratios. "I think this is not necessarily about the pay increments, this is about staffing levels and 'count the babies' and other things; which was an attempt to try to manage a hospital rather that talking about wages and pay conditions," said Mr Koutsantonis. Ms Dabars said the union would pursue the issue of patient-to-midwife ratios through "legislative change"."We attempted to get those provisions [of counting babies] in [the negotiations], that was not forthcoming by the government, and it has been a significant source of frustration to our members," Ms Dabars said.