Nurse lashes out at ‘boomers’ who confronted her on Sydney street during protest
Furious striking nurses have launched a fierce attack on baby boomers after being verbally abused by elderly men who drove past their protest in Sydney.
While protesting for better pay in Sydney on Tuesday, nurses reported being targeted by “baby boomers” shouting insults from their cars.
“While we were peacefully protesting for fair pay and safe working conditions, an elderly man shouted insults at us from the window of his car,” a concerned nurse said in a video posted on social media.
Another older man shouted, “Go back to work, you bastards” and “You signed up for this.”
“Why do people hate nurses so much? We literally dedicate our lives to caring for others. Who’s going to care for us?”
She had a message for the baby boomers who shouted at them during the demonstration.
“You’re counting down, you’re rushing past a nurses’ meeting and ignoring the fact that we’re fighting to keep the people who will be wiping your ass in a few years,” she wrote.
An Australian nurse has responded to baby boomers who voiced their protest
NSW nurses and midwives demanding a 15 per cent pay rise have declared they will ‘rise up and fight’ in their escalating pay dispute
Thousands of nurses and midwives chanted “we want 15 percent” as they marched from Sydney’s Hyde Park to state parliament on Tuesday, as mounted police patrolled the streets.
This led to longer wait times in the emergency department and delays in elective surgeries, while only life-saving staff remained in place.
Some nurses opted for humor in their protest, with one sign reading: “My bra is more supportive than Minns.”
Others, however, took a more personal and crude approach. One nurse displayed a photo of Prime Minister Chris Minns with a Hitler moustache and a sign reading: ‘I like being fucked, but not by Chris Minns.’
While some resorted to insults, others kept their messages more businesslike. One sign read: “I want to have children, but I can’t afford to have one of my own.”
It was the second strike by the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association in less than three weeks.
The union is pushing for a one-off 15 percent pay rise and has rejected an offer from the New South Wales government for a 10.5 percent wage increase over three years.
Many nurses became personal and abusive about New South Wales Premier Chris Minns (pictured)
Some signs used humorous messages to get their point across, such as a sign that read, “My bras are more supportive than Minns'” (pictured)
A sign (pictured) featured doctored photos of Mr Minns and New South Wales Finance Minister Daniel Mookhey wearing red Donald Trump-style caps with the message ‘Make nursing great again’
The government said the state cannot afford such a high pay rise and that it could lead to other aid workers also demanding much higher wages.
But union secretary Shaye Candish said nurses’ wages in New South Wales are much lower than in other states.
“Nurses and midwives are paid approximately 18 per cent less than nurses in Queensland, making it very difficult to retain nurses in our state,” she said.
One of the protesting nurses referred to this with a sign that read: ‘Don’t call the midwife, she’s in Queensland.’
According to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the average salary for a registered nurse in Queensland ranges from $79,058 to $106,144.
The average salary in NSW for the same position ranges from $69,810 to $98,014.
Victoria has the highest paid nurses, with salaries just under $130,000.
Health Minister Ryan Park told Daily Mail Australia he was “focused on nurses’ pay, not their placards”.
A nurse held a sign that read: ‘Praised as heroes, paid like zeros’ (photo)
Nurses in other states, such as Queensland and Victoria, are paid much more than their colleagues in NSW
