The union's Tasmanian branch is lobbying Senator Lambie,pleading that nurses should not be tarred with the same brush as militant construction union officials.
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"I'm hopeful we can highlight that none of us condone the behaviour of the CFMEU and certainly appreciate that there needs to be greater compliance and transparency - but not at the expense of those of us who are doing the right thing,"branch secretary Emily Shepherd said.
"We have always conducted our industrial action in a very respectful way."
Labor's industrial relations spokesman Tony Burke said the government bill would enable the nurses'union to be"hauled into court for deregistration"if nurses took unprotected industrial action to argue for better nurse ratios or sterilisation procedures.
Industrial relations minister Christian Porter rejected this as"patently absurd",saying no nurses'union had engaged in the type of"systemic unlawful conduct"that would provide the basis for a court to deregister it.
But workplace law expert Anthony Forsyth from RMIT's Graduate School of Business and Law said the nurses'industrial action would not have to be repeated or systemic to be caught by the bill.
Professor Forsyth said unions could be pursued for deregistration if they undertook"obstructive industrial action"that"prevented,hindered or interfered with the activities of a federal system employer or the provision of a public service by a state or territory".
They could also be pursued over actions that had"a substantial adverse effect on the safety,health or welfare of the population or part of it",he said,with industrial action over nurse ratios potentially triggering the provision.
The bill requires the court to consider whether it would be"just,in all the circumstances"to deregister an organisation and the nature of the matter giving rise to the application.
Ms Kearney said when nurses took industrial action it was for"the betterment of the system",citing successful campaigns that secured nurse-to-patient ratios and ongoing training to ensure nurses kept their skills up-to-date.
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"When a nurse is concerned about the care that he or she is delivering or that she doesn't have the resources,that she thinks she's being forced to do something that is going to harm her patients,sometimes the only recourse she has is to go to the union,"Ms Kearney said.
Ms Butler said it was"already very difficult"to take industrial action under current laws,noting that the nurses'union had opted not to join in the Health Services Union's strike,protesting an escalation of violence against NSW hospital workers,on Thursday.
She cited the case of the Earle Haven retirement village on the Gold Coast,which closed suddenly last month after the Federal Government sanctioned it for failing to ensure residents received appropriate clinical care.
Nurses campaigning about such problems could be targeted by"rogue"employers who could apply for their union to be deregistered if the government bill was passed,she said.
"With this bill,the government is trying to stop what are potentially really legitimate useful powers of unions."