This morning’s stunt by the Community and Public Sector Union again demonstrates why our hard working public sector workers have not received the pay rise they deserve, because their union is more interested in headlines than good faith negotiation.
To date, there have been 113 formal meetings with unions on public sector wage negotiations, including several with the Premier and myself.
Over the course of these meetings, the Government, in a sign of good faith, have revised the wages policy upwards and have offered improved terms and conditions of employment.
In stark contrast, many unions have not budged at all on demands for unaffordable pay rises of nine per cent over three years.
To ensure public sector workers receive a pay rise this year, including back pay, the Government has offered a one-year pay rise of 2.1 per cent, consistent with CPI, and is a larger increase than has previously been proposed.
This is a simple and fair proposition, and one unions should quickly take to their members for endorsement so they do not miss out on a pay rise while negotiations continue.
I would encourage the unions to continue to engage with the established process through the State Service Management negotiation team in relation to this offer, rather than attempting to further delay public servants receiving their long awaited wage increase.
The Government, from the beginning of this process, believed our hard working public sector workers deserves a pay rise. Only the petulant behaviour of union bosses has prevented this.