The WA nurses’ union has agreed to a potential $350,000 fine for a major strike at Parliament House last year.

The final figure still needs approval from the Industrial Relations Commission, which has been seeking to enforce orders defied by the strike. The union secretary also agreed to pay a $10,000 fine for failing to appear before the commission on the day of the strike. 

Despite the agreement, the commission could impose a different penalty, and both sides need to make further submissions about the penalties and any undertakings.
The Australian Nursing Federation WA (ANF) has been facing enormous fines for its involvement in a state-wide strike last November.

The Western Australian Industrial Relations Commission (WAIRC) claimed that the ANF breached over 3,000 orders not to organise a membership ballot on whether or not to take strike action, despite the union’s membership voting in favour of the state-wide stoppage.

During hearings, WAIRC lawyer Maria Saraceni compared the union’s actions to those of Adolf Hitler, claiming that because the union had written down its plans, it was somehow similar to the fascist leader’s writing of the book, Mein Kampf. This claim was withdrawn after a complaint from the union. 

The commission says the union’s membership breached 3,590 orders.

The ANF said it had been threatened with fines that could amount to as much as $27 million. 

The WAIRC is also threatening the union with de-registration, which would impact more than 30,000 nurses and midwives across WA. 

As a result of this threat, the ANF’s EBA campaign has been halted. 

Funds formerly allocated to strikes and demonstrations have been diverted to radio advertisements.

The WAIRC’s lawyer says ANF should be made an example of to ensure it and other unions toe the line. 

Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson told the ABC on April 11 that the WAIRC’s investigations into the ANF are “entirely” a matter for the commission, adding “everyone has to listen to the independent umpire”.

Labor requested the WAIRC intervene in the ANF’s EBA negotiations, presumably with the objective of either pressuring the union to cease strike action or punish it for following the democratically-expressed agreement by members to take industrial action. 

Labor Premier Mark McGowan described the nurses and midwives’ strike last year as “unlawful and criminal”.

The WAIRC has not commented on the government’s wage offer to public sector workers, which amounts to a near 5 per cent cut after inflation amid a cost-of-living crunch.