Rita Panahi: Public servants ignoring return-to-work order are putting Melbourne’s recovery in jeopardy

After scoring generous pay rises and bonuses during COVID, public servants are now jeopardising Victoria’s recovery by not returning to offices.

If you were ever in any doubt about the power wielded by public sector unions, then witness how many of their members have ignored the state government’s return-to-work directive. Close to half of Victoria’s 50,000-plus public servants have refused to return to the office, despite the government announcing more than a month ago that they’d be back for at least three days a week to “provide a critical boost to Victoria’s social and economic recovery” and to “help local businesses that service CBD”.

Melbourne’s CBD may no longer be a depressing ghost town but to be brutally honest, it’s not much better with scores of empty shopfronts and struggling businesses bereft of clientele. The 43 per cent of public servants ignoring the return-to-work order are putting the city’s recovery in jeopardy.

A City of Melbourne survey carried out earlier this year revealed that one in five CBD retail outlets had closed, at least half permanently. There are stretches of city streets where a third of the businesses are closed and office vacancy rates are alarmingly higher than other CBDs across the country.

Those who worked in retail and hospitality struggled through the lockdown, while public servants scored payrises. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

Data from the Property Council of Australia shows Melbourne had just 24 per cent office occupancy in February compared to 48 per cent in Sydney.

We were never “all in this together” as the prime minister and premier repeatedly claimed through the worst of Victoria’s 112-day lockdown. Those in the public service had job and wage security while those in the private sector feared for their livelihoods.

Then there were the small business operators who watched their life’s work decimated through no fault of their own.

Not only did the public sector have no fear of job losses but they scored generous wage increases and allowances during the darkest days of the pandemic.

While other states froze public servant salaries, Victoria pressed ahead with an increase plus boosted a range of other benefits. There was even an allowance for working from home, which is expected to cost taxpayers upwards of $50m.

No wonder so many public servants are refusing to return to their workplaces. Why sit in trains or traffic and bear additional expenses of going to work when you can lounge at home and receive your full salary plus a little bonus?

But it’s time to shed the tracksuits and yoga pants and leave the comfort of couches, bedrooms and kitchen tables and return to the office.