United Voice News
LHMU legal bid against Barnett's privatisation plans not dead yet
The LHMU will lodge an appeal against an industrial magistrate’s decision to dismiss its application for an order to prevent the state government from signing a contract with Serco to run services at the new Fiona Stanley hospital.
The appeal will be lodged next week and will be heard by a full bench, consisting of three commissioners, at some point in the next few weeks.
The matter will also still go to a full hearing at the Industrial Magistrates Court at some point in the New Year.
“There are still legal avenues open for us to fight the Barnett government on this issue,” said Carolyn Smith, assistant secretary of the LHMU.
“We maintain that the government’s decision to privatise services at the Fiona Stanley hospital is illegal in the light of the agreement it signed with hospital support workers.
“The two year pay and conditions deal, which was ratified in October, maintains the no privatisation language present in the previous agreement.
“The full hearing at the Industrial Magistrates Court will decide whether there has been a breach. The initial matter was just to see if we could get an order preventing contracts from being signed in the interim period before the full hearing.
“Obviously we are disappointed by Magistrate Cicchini’s decision because we are very concerned about the future for hospital support workers at Fiona Stanley, Midland Health Campus and other new hospitals if they are privatised. In our experience, the privatisation of hospital services leads to lower pay, worse conditions and less job security for our workers. It is also has a detrimental effect on patient care.
“We also feel we still have a case and so we will be appealing his decision.”
