Pausing mortgages, carpooling to save on fuel, and asking for help to feed themselves - they're the many ways health staff say they're making ends meet.
As rising inflation and interest rates put more pressure on their pay cheques each month, hospital workers are pushing for what they say is a fair pay rise after two years of living on the front lines of COVID.
It's why hundreds rallied outside Perth Children's Hospital today, in a bid to try and convince the government to review its public sector wages policy as new pay deals are negotiated.
Exactly what kind of a rise the crowd wanted varied between the national inflation rate of 5.1 per cent, to the higher local rate of 7.6 per cent.
They were joined by colleagues from the police and firefighters unions, as well as the building and construction union, as pressure against the government's refusal to budge grows.
And it came with a warning that an even bigger and longer strike could come on August 17, with a number of unions weighing up how they will take part.
It's getting 'hard to survive': health workers
Yossef Nemarian has worked in public health for 10 years, and said it was getting difficult to survive on his current wage, which supported his two children and wife.
"We had to do certain adjustments, even to be able to cope with basic needs," he said.
Layne Poulsen is a theatre orderly at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital and was among the crowd today.
One of his biggest issues for workers was the state government continuing to resist calls to give health staff a "thank you" payment for working during the pandemic, as other states had.
"That's the biggest thing, Victoria gets it and we don't," he said.
"Thank yous aren't really good enough, it's not cutting it anymore.
"Inflation's gone up, everything's gone up … and wages haven't gone up."
Mr Poulsen and his colleagues, many of whom live in the outer suburbs, have taken to carpooling to work in an effort to save money on fuel.
And he's not alone in having to make changes, with another worker telling the ABC she had to ask for a pause on mortgage repayments because rising bills were too much to keep up with.
Di, who also works at Sir Charles Gairdner, has also had to make cuts to her household budget, but has heard of colleagues who are doing it even tougher.
"I know a lot of people who are tapping into community services for food and mental health as well," she said.
"It's affecting them mentally as well, to not have the funds to support their families."
Today's rally was organised by both the United Workers Union and the Health Services Union, which together represent many of the non-clinical staff who keep hospitals running.
Union members no longer willing to sacrifice
Among the Health Services Union members was radiation therapist Brendan McKernan, who said he and his colleagues were happy to receive flat $1,000 rises over the past few years to help repair the state's budget.
"For some of us it's 1 per cent or even less, which was an insult, but we were willing to do that," he said.
"Well, we're not really willing to do it anymore, it's not fair."
United Workers Union state secretary Carolyn Smith said on top of sacrificing their wages, staff had gone above and beyond during the pandemic.
"You can't just call them heroes," she said.
"If we don't see movement, these meetings will continue and we'll move towards further industrial action."
Two more stop work meetings are planned for Royal Perth and Fiona Stanley Hospitals over the next month.
Government's wage policy 'mean spirited': Opposition
Shadow health minister Libby Mettam, who spoke before the rally, said the government's policy was "extraordinary" and "mean-spirited", especially while WA was trying to bring in skilled workers.
"It does raise the question about why nurses would move from other states to WA, given other states with significant deficits are investing in incentives and increased pay for their health workers," she said.
But Ms Mettam's appearance was hardly appreciated by the United Workers Union.
"Under the former Liberal government we saw hospital jobs privatised, we saw workers not getting permanent jobs," union state secretary Ms Smith said.
"So I'm pretty shocked that she thinks she can come here today and talk about what's best for hospitals."
In a statement, WA Health said the unions had made an agreement that 'service delivery impact to WA Health and the community will be minimal' while they took industrial action.
Escalating tension with WA wages policy
Today’s stop-work action is the latest escalation of union-led campaigns pushing for a review of the state government’s wages policy.
Since late last year, public sector wage rises have been capped at either 2.75 per cent a year, or 2.5 per cent plus a $1,000 sign on bonus.
That’s despite inflation in WA currently sitting at 7.6 per cent – the highest in the country – meaning workers are being dealt an effective pay cut.
But Industrial Relations Minister Bill Johnston said there was more to negotiations than just pay.
"In the past, one of the issues raised by the Health Services Union has been the level of insecure work in the health system," he told ABC Radio Perth.
"We've been concentrating over the last four years by making more permanent work available to its members."
He also pointed to other pay deals the government has recently struck, with the State School Teachers' Union agreeing to a 2.75 per cent raise last month.
Earlier this week the Australian Medical Association also reached agreement in principle on a deal that includes a $1,000 pay rise this year, and a 2.75 per cent increase in 2023.
New South Wales health staff recently went on strike over similar concerns, having received a 3 per cent pay rise this year, with a potential 3.5 per cent rise the following year.
Many of those staff will also receive a $3,000 "thank you" bonus for their work during the pandemic.
