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169987
Tue, 03/22/2011 - 12:55
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http://m.oananews.org//node/169987
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Vic public servants want 6% pay rise
SYDNEY, March 22 (AAP)-Victoria's public servants want a 35-hour working week plus a six per cent annual pay rise, well above the government's across-the-board offer of 2.5 per cent.
The Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU), which covers more than 32,000 public servants, including child protection workers, prison officers and court staff, went public with the claim on Tuesday.
The union wants annual pay increases of six per cent.
But the government, which also has to negotiate pay deals with the state's police, nurses and teachers, says it won't grant any rise above 2.5 per cent unless it can be offset by productivity gains.
CPSU state secretary Karen Batt said the union was open to a three- or four-year agreement, depending on what the government was prepared to pay.
She said the union was not ruling out strike action.
"We believe our claim is quite reasonable," Ms Batt told AAP.
"We are hopeful the government will come to the table and bargain in good faith.
"They can't just continue to say to the public they will deliver X, but not fund the very people that are required to deliver it on their behalf."
The coalition has been highly critical of the "crisis" in the state's child protection system and has launched an inquiry to examine how to improve it, including boosting frontline worker retention rates.
Child protection workers' salaries start at about $47,000.
Ms Batt said retention rates would not improve in such a difficult and at times distressing job if wages and conditions were unattractive.
In addition to more pay, the union wants a 1.75 per cent annual superannuation increase, a 35-hour week and six weeks' annual leave.
"There does need to be an ability to make sure people are not burnt out," she said.
"It also is a balance between work and family life."
Workplace child care and 26 weeks' parental leave at salary in addition to the federal government's 18-week entitlement paid at the national minimum wage are other key demands.
Ms Batt said the union was open to discussing several models of child care being made available to workers.
She said commonwealth employees were paid 15 per cent superannuation and to be competitive the Victorian government should lift the annual nine per cent rate state employees receive.
The pay claim falls between the Victorian Police Association's push for a 4.5 per cent rise and the Australian Education Union's demand for 10 per cent a year over three years for the state's primary and secondary teachers.
The public servants' current agreement expires on June 30.
The result will also affect institutions such as the National Gallery of Victoria and the State Library of Victoria which have linked agreements.
Premier Ted Baillieu said negotiations were ongoing for a number of pay agreements.
He denied a suggestion posed by the opposition in parliament that the government was planning to take away public servants' annual leave loading.
The Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU), which covers more than 32,000 public servants, including child protection workers, prison officers and court staff, went public with the claim on Tuesday.
The union wants annual pay increases of six per cent.
But the government, which also has to negotiate pay deals with the state's police, nurses and teachers, says it won't grant any rise above 2.5 per cent unless it can be offset by productivity gains.
CPSU state secretary Karen Batt said the union was open to a three- or four-year agreement, depending on what the government was prepared to pay.
She said the union was not ruling out strike action.
"We believe our claim is quite reasonable," Ms Batt told AAP.
"We are hopeful the government will come to the table and bargain in good faith.
"They can't just continue to say to the public they will deliver X, but not fund the very people that are required to deliver it on their behalf."
The coalition has been highly critical of the "crisis" in the state's child protection system and has launched an inquiry to examine how to improve it, including boosting frontline worker retention rates.
Child protection workers' salaries start at about $47,000.
Ms Batt said retention rates would not improve in such a difficult and at times distressing job if wages and conditions were unattractive.
In addition to more pay, the union wants a 1.75 per cent annual superannuation increase, a 35-hour week and six weeks' annual leave.
"There does need to be an ability to make sure people are not burnt out," she said.
"It also is a balance between work and family life."
Workplace child care and 26 weeks' parental leave at salary in addition to the federal government's 18-week entitlement paid at the national minimum wage are other key demands.
Ms Batt said the union was open to discussing several models of child care being made available to workers.
She said commonwealth employees were paid 15 per cent superannuation and to be competitive the Victorian government should lift the annual nine per cent rate state employees receive.
The pay claim falls between the Victorian Police Association's push for a 4.5 per cent rise and the Australian Education Union's demand for 10 per cent a year over three years for the state's primary and secondary teachers.
The public servants' current agreement expires on June 30.
The result will also affect institutions such as the National Gallery of Victoria and the State Library of Victoria which have linked agreements.
Premier Ted Baillieu said negotiations were ongoing for a number of pay agreements.
He denied a suggestion posed by the opposition in parliament that the government was planning to take away public servants' annual leave loading.
