Members from Patient Transport met yesterday at a stop work meeting on Zoom and voted in favour of action on two resolutions: Changes to Workers’ Compensation Legislation and Underpayment of the Infectious Cleaning Allowance.

The first resolution is in favour of refusing all COVID jobs in solidarity with vulnerable workers across NSW, if the insurance company-friendly changes to Workers Compensation Legislation come into effect. For frontline workers, who do not have the choice of working from home, who have been working tirelessly throughout this pandemic to keep our state running, and who are still in the most high-risk environments for catching the disease that brought NSW to its knees, changes to Workers Compensation Legislation is unacceptable.

The second issue is the underpayment of the infectious cleaning allowance. The wording of the policy is clear that the infectious cleaning allowance of $6.13 is triggered when transmission-based precautions such as; masks, gowns, gloves, etc, are used when transporting any patient during a shift. Since the small outbreak at Regents Park in December 2020, PTOs have been taking precautions and doing full cleans between all patients. That means, the allowance must be paid.

In response to this, members will be taking the following action:

• Patient Transport Officers reject the government’s proposed changes to Workers’ Compensation Legislation and will refuse all COVID jobs from 6am the day after the bill is passed. - 97% voted in favour of taking this action, which will commence in the coming weeks, if the bill passes through the upper house. Members will be informed of the actual date as soon as it becomes known.
• Until the Infectious Cleaning Allowance is paid every shift that Infectious Patients are transported, backdated to December 2020, members will refuse to clean the van between patients, and will return to the hub to have the car cleaned by an appropriately compensated worker. Commencing the first day shift of Tuesday 15th MARCH 2022. - 93% of members voted in favour of taking this action, this action will also force HealthShare to create more jobs, providing work for more workers.

Members standing together to take this bold action will ensure that these fights are won for PTOs and worker across NSW!