Thiruvananthapuram: Malayali nurses in Australia assembled at Melbourne Royal Park on Saturday and pledged solidarity with nurses in the private sector in the state who are striking for a pay hike. The solidarity meeting at the royal park was organised by the Melbourne Left Secular Collective. CPM Politburo member M M Baby who inaugurated the programme through phone, pointed out that the LDF Government was committed to ensuring a decent payscale to nurses. "The Pinarayi Vijayan-led government would take suitable steps,” Mr Baby said.
The job of nurses in the health care sector was as important as that of doctors. However, they were not receiving reasonable salaries, Mr Baby said. Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala who gave a message to the programme, said that the government should take the initiative to convince private hospital managements to ensure decent wages to nurses. The United Nurses Association Vice President Beljo speaking to the programme through phone said that the strike would end only once the Supreme Court verdict on equal wages for equal job was implemented in private hospitals. The Indian Nurses Association General Secretary Muhammed Shihab said that the demand was for introducing the basic pay of Rs 28,000 applicable for government nurses to the private sector also.
