Pay offer upped by ‘measly’ 0.1%

PREMIER Will Hodgman has warned public servants they will miss out on back pay if they don’t accept a new Government wages offer containing a 0.1 per cent sweetener within three weeks.

After 18 months of negotiations and industrial unrest failed to achieve a resolution, Mr Hodgman put a one-year deal on the table in State Parliament yesterday.

It came with a pay increase of 2.1 per cent, backdated to December, an increase of 0.1 per cent on previous offers. One union leader described the increase as “measly”.

“This 2.1 per cent is consistent with CPI, it is a larger pay increase than has been previously proposed for the first 12 months and, in the case of the education union, that they agreed to for the next year,” Mr Hodgman told Parliament.

“We want to reach an agreement by June 30 this year, which will enable the processing of the new salary rate and back pay as soon as the relevant agreement is registered. If agreement cannot be reached by June 30, then it is unlikely that back pay will be further considered.”

The Government has previously offered pay rises totalling seven per cent over three years.

Unions have indicated a willingness to accept less than their initial demands of nine per cent — but Mr Hodgman said the budget could not afford a better offer.

“Some unions are now even refusing to engage with our negotiating teams to present their offers,” he said.

Unions yesterday expressed frustration at the Government’s decision to amend its deal at the end of two weeks of consultation with members on the existing offer. Community and Public Sector Union general secretary Tom Lynch said there was little detail in the new offer and no promise of a better outcome for talks.

“We really don’t know what 12-month period they’re talking about,” he said.

“The last agreement expired on the 30th of June 2018, so a new deal would expire in three weeks time. And how are they going to change their behaviour so we can have some confidence we’re going to be able to reach an agreement in the next six months?”

Health and Community Sector Union secretary Tim Jacobson described the increased pay offer as “measly”.

“So much for good faith negotiations. The 2.1 per cent appeared in the media and the parliament even before negotiators knew about it,” he said.