Health workers in the North East are taking a stand with protected industrial action in a fight for better pay.

Workers across Victoria who are an integral part of health care facilities turned down two individual offers of three and four per cent rises over two years last year.

The new bans will see workers close one in every four hospital beds, cease cleaning of non-clinical areas including offices, staff rooms and cafeterias, and suspend the training and onboarding of new staff.

Workers are pushing for a new wages deal that delivers a "liveable pay rise", and urgent action to address what they say are unsustainable workloads and chronic staff shortages.

Colette McNeill is the workplace trainer and career adviser for Northeast Health Wangaratta and the Hume region and is also a Health Workers Union [HWU] delegate.

She explained that health care workers include admin, ward clerks, receptionists, dental, theatre and sterilisation technicians, cleaners, porters, orderlies, food service staff, cooks, chefs, security guards, and personal care attendants.

"The protected industrial action is not anything that will hurt patients, rooms will still be cleaned and they'll still receive their food," Ms McNeill said.

"Theatre technicians will only prepare instruments for Category 1 emergencies, except in Category 2 and 3 the emptions will include pediatrics, palliative care, oncology, and obstetrics.

"Clinical areas will still be cleaned but in the public areas and executive areas will not be cleaned and they are not doing any internal catering for executive meetings.

"Only HWU members are permitted to carry out these work bans and non-union members are not."

Ms McNeill said the HWU's latest request was for a six per cent increase and 12 per cent increase over the two years of the new EBA.

The previous EBA expired in July 2025.

In Wangaratta there are more than 100 HWU members, Myrtleford, Bright and Mount Beauty are under Alpine and they have some members, there are 10 in Beechworth, and Cobram has, all barring three people, who are HWU members.

Ms McNeill said it's the first time in more than 20 years there has been industrial action by the Victorian health care workers.

She highlighted that the basic rates of pay do not match what market expectations are and as a result it's a struggle to hire, for example, cooks and chefs in the health service industry.

"Rates are a lot lowers and at the moment we're understaffed so there are a lot of people who are doing more than 100 hours a week and they're getting tired," she said.

"There seems to be plenty of people in the upper levels - they don't seem to be short staffed at all."

Protected industrial action started on 14 January and will continue until 1 February.

HWU lead organiser Jake McGuinness said escalating industrial action is the last thing workers want to be doing — especially during the summer bushfire period.

"This industrial action is an unfortunate necessity because of the Victorian government’s consistent and callous disregard for essential workers’ needs.," he said.

“These bans are targeted and carefully designed to protect emergency and critical services, but they will cause widespread disruption.”

The Victorian Hospitals’ Industrial Association said it remains committed to concluding negotiations for a new enterprise agreement as soon as possible and continues to meet with the union to achieve this.