Sarah Norton, right, and her colleagues from GV Health joined thousands of allied health workers in front of the Victorian parliament to demand a pay rise.
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Allied health workers from the Goulburn Valley joined thousands of their colleagues from across Victoria in strike action for fair pay on Tuesday, June 16.
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Thirteen staff members from GV Health travelled together on a bus to Melbourne to join the protest on the steps of the Victorian parliament, representing around 100 colleagues in the Goulburn Valley.
Medical imaging technician and Victorian Allied Health Professionals Association delegate Sarah Norton said the organisers were only expecting around 200 attendees and “in the beginning we felt very down”.
The demonstration attracted over 4000 allied health staff.
“It was such a good feeling to see so many people,” Ms Norton said.
“I felt very proud being in the crowd.”
Ms Norton said that Victorian allied health staff were some of the lowest paid in the country, which caused a higher turnover of staff, especially in regional centres such as Shepparton.
“A lot of staff have left GV Health because they couldn’t keep up with the cost of living,” she said.
“I can really feel that people are getting frustrated.”
Over the past four years, allied health staff have received only a two per cent annual pay increase, which consistently below inflation.
VAHPA has been negotiating with the Victorian Government for the past nine months and has received only one offer in this time.
Ms Norton said that allied health staff were the eyes of health care and that medical imaging staff “see almost every patient who goes into the emergency room”.
Allied health workers include physical therapists, occupational therapists, sonographers, pharmacists, medical scientists and radiation therapists.
This group also includes the staff needed for the new PET scanner at GV Health.
“If they can’t retain staff, how can they run the machine?” Ms Norton said.
A skeleton crew was in place at GV Health during the strike, and no medical treatment was impacted.
Sarah Norton, left, and 12 of her colleagues travelled together on a bus to join the demonstration at the Victorian parliament.
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