Disability carers walked off the job in Wangaratta on Thursday amid fears of cuts in pay and conditions if the industry is privatised by the Victorian government.
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About 40 of those on strike gathered at King George V Gardens for a barbecue before marching along Rowan Street to the Department of Health and Human Services building.
Carers are demanding better wages, conditions and job security during the introduction of the NDIS as part of EBA negotiations, which were due to be finalised at the end of 2016.
Tim Bright, who works across some of the 40 independent living houses in the North East, said staff were well-trained and dedicated to their clients, but worried what would happen if wages and shift lengths were cut.
“We need certainty, we need to maintain our current level, we need to maintain training,” he said.
“Just because we have a client base that can’t speak up for themselves, why should we suffer?”
Mr Bright said many disability clients lived away from major centres like Wodonga and Wangaratta to be close to their families, but still deserved the best care.
Fears were the best carers would leave a privatised disability industry for nursing, aged care or mental health, which would remain at a higher standard under public control.
Health and Community Services Union state secretary Lloyd Williams led the Wangaratta march and said carers were willing to fight for the long haul for a quality, not cut-price, NDIS.
He said the pay gap between public and private disability organisations was as much as 30 per cent.
“They wouldn’t privatise hospitals, they wouldn’t privatise schools, but they think they can take away the choice of public care for people with disabilities,” Mr Williams said.
“Privatisation is a direct attack on our members’ job security and conditions.”
The EBA negotiations affected 214 staff who cared for 112 people with disabilities across 23 group homes in Wodonga, Wangaratta, Beechworth and Benalla.