North Melbourne police members walk off the job amid pay dispute

Police in Melbourne’s north say their station is running at less than 50 per cent, with staff walking off the job to demand better pay and work conditions.

 

Furious police offices in Melbourne’s north say their station is running at “under half” as a result of staff shortages, becoming the latest unit to walk off the job amid a major pay dispute.

Police at the North Melbourne station staged a 30 minute protest on Monday, becoming the fourth station to do so in recent days, with staff demanding a 6 per cent pay rise and better work conditions — which will now be settled by the Fair Work Commission.

The North Melbourne staff held a banner which read “Breaking Point” and “1000+ vacancies ... 700+ off sick” as they walked out of their building.

Police at the North Melbourne station have walked off the job amid a major pay dispute with the Allan Government. Picture: Athos Sirianos

North Melbourne Senior Sergeant Alex O’Toole said the station was hit hard by staff shortages, with remaining offices forced to shoulder the extra load.

“I’m here today because we are underpaid and overworked,” she said.

“Police do an extremely difficult job and we are not compensated for it.

“My police station is running under half its gazetted profile with my constables and senior constables, so they’re carrying an enormous workload which is hurting their mental health.

“We’re meant to have 38 constables and senior constables and at the moment we’ve only got 19, so that 19 are doing the work of 38 people.”

Alex O'Toole says police at the North Melbourne station are severely overworked. Picture: Athos Sirianos

Police Association president Karl David led the walk out on Monday, describing the government and Victoria Police’s handling of wage negotiations as “deplorable”.

“We want an outcome,” he said.

“Victoria Police executive command have pushed this into the Fair Work Commission.

“We don’t think our EBA should be dealt with by the fair work commission by an independent umpire, the parties should get to the table and work it out like every other state.”

Leading Senior Constable Andrew McOrist said “morale was down” at the station, with many members “struggling”.

“People are frustrated working their backsides off ... it’s just getting harder and harder to do more unpaid overtime to finish the work,” he said.

“A lot of the members don’t even know what a social life is.”

Sen Constable McOrist said a 6 per cent pay increase would “make life a lot easier”.

“Ideally (6 per cent) would be perfect, there are a lot of members that struggle to just make do,” he said.

More walk outs are scheduled to be held across the state this week including at stations in St Kilda, Faulkner, Shepparton and Bendigo.

A Victoria Police spokesman said the force was “very open” about its resourcing challenges.

“We are doing everything we can to fill vacant positions,” he said.

“We are also prioritising our workloads to make sure we continue to keep the community safe.

“The community should be assured Victoria Police will continue to ensure frontline policing services are maintained during protected industrial action.

“Victoria Police remains committed to securing an enterprise agreement that recognises the challenges of policing and is fair for police and protective services officers.

“As the matter is before the Fair Work Commission we will not be commenting further.”

The content summaries were created with the assistance of AI technology, then edited and approved for publication by an editor.