Canberra nurses have rejected an ACT government proposal to increase nursing wages by 2 per cent a year for the next four years.
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The ACT branch of the Australian Nurses Federation (ANF) described the pay offer as ''disrespectful'' and ''insulting'' on Tuesday, after members voted unanimously to refuse the offer outright.
The territory's nurses and midwives are the latest workforce among the ACT's 20,000-strong public service to criticise government attempts to set wage increases for the next four years below inflation.
The Community and Public Sector Union condemned the offer made to its workforce last week, saying staff were effectively being told to accept a pay cut.
Chief Minister Katy Gallagher has said the government needs to restrain spending in a tough ACT economy and the wage offer would spare the slashing of public service jobs that has happened in other states.
The government did not comment on the negotiations with nurses and midwives on Tuesday.
But ACT ANF secretary Jenny Miragaya said there was ''no respect'' for nurses or midwives in the government's proposal.
''To my recollection, the last time we were offered anything like this was way back in the late nineties when nurses were given the opportunity to salary sacrifice,'' Ms Miragaya said.
''At this stage, they've rejected the offer outright. They felt it was insulting and disrespectful.''
Ms Miragaya said nurses were open to negotiations and would not discuss the possibility of industrial action before the current agreement expired on June 30. ''Come the 30th of June I'm quite sure that is something the membership will consider,'' she said.
The federation said it was also concerned the government would try to diminish existing workplace entitlements and it wanted all entitlements maintained.
The union is calling for improvements to night shift penalties, rosters and the career structure for nurses.
The ACT Visiting Medical Officers Association renewed its calls on Tuesday for a higher pay offer for the territory's visiting officers, who are negotiating new contract agreements with the ACT government.
Association president Peter Hughes accused ACT Director-General of Health Peggy Brown of making ''misleading'' statements about the proposed agreement.
Dr Brown told the ABC last week indexation of 2 per cent was fair for VMOs in the current economic climate.
But Dr Hughes said that offer had only been made to VMOs on sessional - or paid by the hour - contracts, and not to those who were paid on a fee-for-service basis.
He said the government had effectively recommended a pay freeze for eight years for fee-for-service VMOs until their rate of pay was in line with Commonwealth Medicare Benefit Schedule rates.
The VMO Association and the ACT branch of the Australian Medical Association have criticised the proposal and the matter will go to arbitration in June.
An ACT Health spokeswoman said the fees paid to ACT VMOs were the highest in the country and the government could not impose an agreement on the VMO workforce.
''As Dr Brown has previously said, the offer is not reducing the fees payable to VMOs on current contracts,'' she said.