It has been a big few months for private health. Not only has membership grown significantly across the board, but we have also seen a larger influx of members from regional areas.

These numbers, along with some brilliant, engaged delegates, have driven active change through the sector.

Delegates and members are lifting their colleagues up and meeting management head on to fight for the changes we deserve. The re-engagement with regional sites has also led to increased delegates’ presence and HSU visibility in the regions. This has led to activists, such as at Ramsay and HealthCare to put their hand up to help transform bargaining into campaigning

Health members have seen many wins this quarter. Through member-driven organising, members have brought about major changes and improvements at work. At Wollongong Private Hospital, Ramsay Health was trying to ram through changes to the on-call roster for wardspersons. HSU members banded together, stood up to their employer, and successfully enforced their rights to consultation and review over major changes.

At Healthscope we have seen the bargaining committee launch action survey which has laid out our asks to the employer. The Employer has responded positively and has now offered a full wage offer, including two years of backdated wage increases on the table.

We have seen an increase in member-run action that has been fruitful for the whole sector. Delegates have been leading the charge in investigating and launching underpayment claims across the private pathology sector. Members at Healthscope and Campbelltown Hospital fought for back pay, demanding they were worth more. Standing side by side, HSU members have won a significant amount in back pay from both employers.

Couriers members in Australian Clinical Labs have successfully pushed back changes to the courier runs system that they weren’t consulted about. This has been an incredible win for health and safety and for pathology employees having a real, collective voice in their working lives.