Pay cut reprieve rejected

The Industrial Relations Commission's rejection of a two-year delay to the award modernisation process for nurses could see an already struggling workforce reach breaking point, many in the profession fear. Under the new Fair Work system, NSW and Queensland nurses could face pay cuts of up to $300 a week by the end of the five-year award phase-in, with nurses in the aged care sector said to be the hardest hit. Backed by the federal government, the Australian Nursing Ferderation applied to have the new pay rates for 15,000 award-covered nurses in the two states delayed until 2012. The...

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