For the first time this century, doctors at the state's public hospitals will walk off the job. The union says thousands of medicos will strike for three days next week, with elective surgery likely to be cancelled. It's the latest front to open up in an industrial war between the Minns government and health professionals, as fighting over pay and conditions drags on.
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00:00It's been almost 30 years since doctors took measures as drastic as this.
00:07Two and a half thousand young doctors rallied in Sydney.
00:10The walkout leaving hospitals with skeleton staffing.
00:13From today, public hospitals in New South Wales are treating only emergency and critical cases.
00:19Patients face the same prospect next week, with doctors planning to strike from Tuesday to Thursday.
00:25I've never done this before in my life. Most doctors find it very uncomfortable.
00:31They say they're underpaid and overworked.
00:34I myself have had to pull over in the middle of going home after a long shift
00:39and sleep on the side of the road because otherwise I would have crashed my car.
00:43Amongst their demands is a pay rise of 30% in a single year to reach parity with other states.
00:49A 30% increase equates to around about $75,000 for a senior staff specialist on about a $400,000 package.
00:59The government is offering 10.5% over three years.
01:03They have offered substantial increases, pay increases to other sectors, but not to doctors and nurses.
01:09The strikes will defy the state's industrial umpire, which yesterday ordered doctors not to take action.
01:15But the union has decided to go ahead anyway, unfazed by a potential penalty of $20,000.
01:21The union will wear any potential fines.
01:25The union insists emergency departments will remain staffed at safe levels,
01:29the health ministry confident the system can handle the strikes.
01:32I'd like to say we probably overstaff, and I think that's a good thing in terms of patient care and safety.
01:39That's not to say there's plenty of fat to take out in an industrial sense.
01:44But yet to land a deal with nurses and psychiatrists, its industrial headache is getting worse.