For more than a decade, staff at the Calvary Mater Newcastle raised concerns about mould, water quality and maintenance failures inside a hospital treating some of the region's sickest patients. For years, our Health Services Union (HSU) members' concerns were watered down, ignored or met with threats. In March, the NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into the Mater began hearings in Newcastle. It got there because HSU members refused to stay quiet.
Union Submission Exposes Neglect
The Union's submission to the inquiry outlined a decade of neglect and cover-ups, with whistleblowers reporting they were pressured to tone down findings and, in some cases, threatened with the loss of their jobs. It described a 'sweep it under the rug' culture inside the public-private partnership responsible for the hospital's maintenance, and detailed how rectification of the hospital's potable water problems was delayed on cost grounds until SafeWork NSW and the Health Minister stepped in to take over critical repairs.
Collective Action Drives Change
The inquiry was a direct result of members putting themselves on the line. Public private partnerships put staff and the public at risk and undermine trust. By allowing companies to make a profit from our public health facilities, everyone except those companies loses. Our members at the Mater want to come to work and deliver safe care. They shouldn't have to fight their own employer to do it.
The Mater is not an isolated case. Last year, paramedics at Rutherford Ambulance Station stood down over a rostering dispute that was sending crews intended for a rapidly growing Maitland community hours away to cover shortfalls elsewhere. At John Hunter Hospital, HSU members rallied to save the Cosy Kooka Cafe, a 35-year institution providing affordable meals to exhausted healthcare workers, patients and visitors. At Medowie, an HSU delegate turned a petty uniform dispute into a statewide campaign for a modern, respectful workplace.
Pattern of Organising
In every case, the pattern is the same. HSU members see a problem where they work, they organise, and they force it onto the public agenda. That is what the labour movement has always done. May Day is a reminder that decent wages, safe workplaces and dignity at work were not handed down. They were won, and they are still being won, by workers willing to stand together.
Whether it is blood services, pathology, ambulance, hospitals, mental health or aged care, HSU members are on the job every day, and increasingly willing to speak up when the system lets their communities down. This May Day, we honour them.
