Angry striking nurses have lashed out at baby boomers after being verbally abused by older men driving past their protest in Sydney.
On Tuesday, while protesting in the streets of Sydney to demand better pay, nurses reported being targeted by “boomer” men shouting abuse at them from their cars.
“While we were peacefully demonstrating for fair pay and safe working conditions, an elderly man shouted insults at us from his car window,” said one concerned nurse in a video posted on social media.
‘Another older man shouted, “Get back to work, you bastards,” and “You signed up for this.”
“Why do people hate nurses so much? We literally dedicate our lives to caring for others. Who cares for us?”
He had a message for the baby boomers who shouted at him during the demonstration.
“You’re done for, speeding through a nurses’ demonstration, ignoring the fact that we’re fighting to retain the people who will be wiping your ass in a few years,” he wrote.
An Australian nurse has responded to the baby boomer men who called for her protest
NSW nurses and midwives demanding a 15 per cent pay rise have said they will “stand up and fight” in their escalating pay dispute.
Thousands of nurses and midwives chanted “we want 15 per cent” as they marched from Hyde Park, Sydney, to state parliament on Tuesday, with mounted police patrolling the streets.
This led to longer waiting times in emergency services and delays in elective surgeries, while only the personnel necessary to preserve life remained on site.
Some nurses opted for humor in their protest, holding a sign that read: “My bra is more supportive than Minns.”
Others, however, took a more personal and crude approach: one nurse held up a picture of Prime Minister Chris Minns with a Hitler moustache and a sign reading: “I enjoy being fucked, but not Chris Minns.”
While some resorted to insults, others kept their messages more serious, such as a sign that read: “I’m bringing babies into the world but I can’t afford to have one of my own.”
It was the second industrial strike launched by the New South Wales Nurses and Midwives Association in less than three weeks.
The union is pushing for a one-off 15 per cent pay rise and has rejected an offer from the NSW Government of a 10.5 per cent increase over three years.
Many nurses were personal and rude to NSW Premier Chris Minns (pictured)
Some posters used humorous messages to get their point across, such as one that read: “My bras offer more support than Minns” (pictured).
One poster (pictured) featured doctored photos of Mr Minns and NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey wearing red Donald Trump-style caps reading “Make Nursing Great Again”.
The government said the state could not afford such a large pay rise, adding that it could lead to other emergency workers also demanding much higher wages.
But union secretary Shaye Candish said nurses’ salaries in New South Wales were much lower than in other states.
“Nurses and midwives are paid about 18 per cent less than nurses in Queensland, which makes it really difficult to keep nurses here in our state,” she said.
One of the protesting nurses addressed this with a sign reading: “Don’t call the midwife, she’s in Queensland.”
According to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the average salary for a registered nurse in Queensland ranges from $79,058 to $106,144.
The average salary in New South Wales for the same position ranges from $69,810 to $98,014.
Victoria has the highest-paid nurses, with salaries capped at just under $130,000.
Health Minister Ryan Park told the Daily Mail Australia he was “focused on nurses’ pay, not their posters”.
A nurse held a sign that read: “We praise them as heroes, we pay them as zeros” (pictured)
Nurses in other states, such as Queensland and Victoria, receive much higher salaries than their New South Wales counterparts.