Sophie Elsworth: Victorian public servants should head back to the office like private sector workers

Dan Andrews has cried “we’re all in this together” all year, but it’s hardly true while well-paid public servants continue to work from home, writes Sophie Elsworth.

Opinion: Victorian public servants are the protected species.

Not the frontline workers but the bureaucrats who have comfortable office jobs.

Despite the Premier drumming into us all year that “we’re all in this together”, that’s never been the case.

As the state battled through not one but two COVID-19 waves — thanks to the shambolic hotel quarantine debacle — Victorians had drummed into us that we had to fight this “wildly infectious disease” together.

But the divide between Victorians has continued on.

We’ve now had weeks without a new single COVID-19 case and 25 per cent of private sector workers can finally go back to the office.

Many businesses have started to get workers back to the office in a slow and steady way.

On Sunday Premier Andrews finally announced public sector workers will be sent back to the office from January 11.

From then 25 per cent will be able to return, while at the same time 50 per cent of private sector workers can go back to their desks.

Victorian workers are beginning to return to the office. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Daniel Pockett

But these government-paid bureaucrats haven’t suffered the torment of job losses, sweating it out running a small business that is going under or watched their livelihoods crumble around them.

They’ve carried on as usual receiving full pay and have gotten through the pandemic financially unscathed.

Victorian public servants received pay rises in 2020 — some bureaucrats even got five-digit jumps to their salaries.

They’ve not been kept awake at night wondering if they’ll have a job at the end of this crisis.

So like private sector workers who are slowly coming back to work, public sector workers should be treated no differently.

Why should they continue to sit at home in the comfort of their tracksuit pants, receive a pay rise during a pandemic, and have the convenience of working from the couch roll on?

Businesses need workers to return to the office — for many it’s far easier to communicate, workshop ideas and produce a better output.

Undoubtedly there are slackers who love the freedom of working from home without the boss breathing down their throat.

The state government is the largest employer of workers in the city and has said it’s taking a cautious approach to getting workers back to work.

But they too are an important part of the economy — the city needs them.

There’s no sugar-coating that Melbourne’s CBD has been left bruised and battered from lockdown.

Retailers, restaurants, pubs and personal services are among those who have battled to survive as Melburnians have kept to their neighbourhoods and avoided entering the city.

They need us back spending, visiting their shops, booking dinners, getting facials and seeing the latest movie.

If we’re all in this together, then surely all workplaces should be helping to get what was once a great city centre back buzzing again.

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@sophieelsworth