Surgeries cancelled as nurses strike over pay rise row

Health Minister Ryan Park said he was disappointed with the action by the union.

"The independent umpire has said very clearly that this action shouldn't take place," he said.

"People are going to have important surgery cancelled today ... this is going to have an impact on the treatment of chronic conditions."

For 24 hours from today's morning shift, nurses and midwives will be ON STRIKE!— NSW Nurses & Midwives (@nswnma) We're doing this for fair pay and improved conditions, because our communities deserve so much more than what the NSW government is offering. pic.twitter.com/QjkfjolyzHSeptember 23, 2024

The government had not made a genuine attempt to negotiate on pay and conditions, NSW Nurses and Midwives general secretary Shaye Candish said.

"The state government could have stopped this industrial action from occurring by coming to the table with an improved offer, but it has chosen to ignore us repeatedly," Ms Candish said on Tuesday.

"Nurses and midwives are outraged by the government's unwillingness to negotiate beyond its insulting three per cent offer, especially since we found the savings to fund the pay rise."

Industrial Relations Commission president Ingmar Taylor had not yet examined the union's argument for pay rises, but recommended an interim agreement and four weeks of "intensive discussions" in a bid to broker a deal.

The NSW Nurses and Midwives Association action started at 7am in the union's second major stop-work action since Labor came to power in March 2023.

The strike is part of a union push for a 15 per cent, one-year pay rise, a demand Premier Chris Minns says is unaffordable.

"If we agree to that, we'll be stretched to breaking point" Mr Minns said on Monday.

"It's not because we don't think that the work they do isn't vital. It is."

Premier Chris Minns believes the nurses are asking for too much. (Bianca De Marchi/AAP PHOTOS)

Other workers would be lining up for pay rises  if the nurses got the 15 per cent they sought, he said.

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.

Opposition Leader Mark Speakman said the government needed to make sure the strike did not compromise patient safety.

"It's also incumbent from the nurses union to co-operate to the same extent," he said.

Public rallies are planned outside parliament house in Sydney and in Tweed Heads and Albury near the Queensland and Victorian borders, two states the union says nurses are moving to because of better pay.