Yesterday the HSU met with Heritage Care management and we served petitions signed by over 170 staff who all agreed that the 1% wage offer is unacceptable.

This is a great show of unity and strength in the face of a wage offer that was described by many HSU members as ‘unfair’ and ‘insulting’.

The HSU also responded to Heritage Care’s rejection of key member claims around staffing levels and workload management, saying that we were very disappointed by the response and that if the agreement were put to a vote in its current form, we would be encouraging all members to vote ‘no’.  

Management accepted that people were not happy with the offer that had been put forward and said that they would need time to reconsider their position. Management also said that they were under considerable pressure caused by current government funding.

The HSU acknowledged the funding challenges under the current Scott Morrison Liberal government, however we made it very clear that that is not an excuse and aged care workers must not suffer poor wages and undervaluing of your work any longer. You deserve to be fairly and properly paid for the hard work you do and the current situation is just not acceptable.

Congratulations to everyone for coming together so quickly to send such a strong message to Heritage Care management. Heritage Care will now reconsider their position and our next meeting is scheduled for 3 Feb. We will update all HSU members as soon as we have any new information.