Armistice: NSW nurses strike interim wage deal

NSW nurses and midwives hold placards as they strike in Sydney
NSW nurses will get an interim three per cent pay increase, while wage negotiations continue. -AAP Image

NSW nurses will get a three per cent interim pay hike in return for suspending all industrial action which has been affecting the state's public hospitals.

The government struck a truce with the nurses union after months of wage negotiations and strikes.

Health Minister Ryan Park said the Nurses and Midwives Association accepted the recommendation of the Industrial Relations Commission on  Monday to stop all planned strikes while negotiations continued.

"No industrial action affecting patients will take place while the discussions and/or arbitration is progressing," he said.

"We look forward to these discussions and ongoing negotiations with the Association."

The government has struck a month-long truce with the NSW nurses union. (Bianca De Marchi/AAP PHOTOS)

Under the agreement the government has committed to an interim three per cent pay increase, less than a quarter of the 15 per cent the union was demanding.

Union acting general secretary, Michael Whaites, said members had voted to accept the IRC recommendation for a four week period.

"We are committed to pursuing the best possible pay and conditions outcome for our members, including things like 30 per cent night shift penalty, to bring us into line with other states," he said in a statement.

"As a show of our good faith from the government, public sector nurses and midwives will receive an interim three per cent wage increase, backdated to 1 July 2024."

The union looked forward to robust and productive discussions with the government, Mr Whaites said.

In the largest rally against the Labor government since coming to power in March 2023, at least 5000 nurses and midwives took to the streets on Tuesday over wage negotiations.

The 24-hour stop-work action by nurses and midwives affected 454 elective surgeries and temporarily closed 81 beds, according to NSW Health.

All NSW public sector workers, including nurses, have been offered a three-year, 10.5 per cent pay increase factoring in a mandatory rise in superannuation payments.