Reach pay deal agreement or let Fair Work Commission decide: Tim Pallas’ warning to Victoria Police

Acting Premier Tim Pallas has given Victoria’s police force an ultimatum over a long-running pay deal, telling them to reach an agreement quickly or he’ll take the decision out of their hands.

State Treasurer Tim Pallas has threatened police to agree to a pay deal imminently or he would escalate the long running workplace dispute to be dealt with by the Fair Work Commission with independent arbitrators brought in to dictate the terms of the deal.

On Friday, Mr Pallas revealed that the long-running negotiations with 21,000 police members was at a standstill, and warned that he would move to trigger the new intractable bargaining laws if a deal could not be reached imminently.

The move would see independent FWC arbitrators brought in to decide all the terms of the police pay agreement.

A move that could see terms already agreed on by the parties overturned.

Mr Pallas, who is currently the acting Premier, warned that if the union and Victoria Police could not “reconcile the differences” the government would “access the intractable bargaining powers that the commission has”

“And certainly, it would appear that that’s where the matters involving the police association are heading,” he said.

Acting Premier Tim Pallas has threatened to pull the trigger if police can’t decide on a pay deal agreement soon. Picture: Asanka Ratnayake

If Mr Pallas makes the move it would be the second time the new bargaining laws have been triggered in Victorian Government’s pay disputes, since their introduction, after the United Firefighters Union pay deal was sent to the FWC last year.

He also urged police to “think about the consequence” of their actions, fearing community safety could be put at risk if a deal was not reached and strike action continued to occur.

“I would urge them not to take any action that compromises public safety or public wellbeing,” he said on Friday.

“And certainly, if we’re talking about large public events and a failure to provide adequate support to the community at those events, I would worry that that might not meet that test of is the public’s interest and welfare first and foremost.”

Victoria Police’s staff rejected the introduction of a landmark nine-day fortnight for frontline cops as part of a $500m deal to end its long-running pay dispute in July. Picture: Nadir Kinani

Mr Pallas also blamed police union leadership for the situation.

“It seems a little perverse that they’re taking action against the community and the community’s interests as a consequence of their own failure to adequately deliver on arrangements with their membership,” he said.

Mr Pallas said he met with the Police Minister and Police Commissioner to discuss “next steps” last week.

“We have sought the assistance of Fair Work,” he said.

“I’ll be clear that going forward, the government … if we reach an agreement with unions, and unions fail to be able to deliver their membership, we’re not going to see this as some sort of game in an ongoing negotiation process.”

Victoria’s police staff rejected the introduction of a landmark nine-day fortnight for frontline cops as part of a $500m deal to end its long-running pay dispute in July. Under the new laws the intractable bargaining clause can be triggered after nine months of negotiations with no deal.

Mr Pallas’ comments came at police ramped up their action from 7am on Friday with officers showing up to the city to raise awareness of the dispute among the public.

From Friday they will dish out on-the-spot-fines and will also refuse to patrol upcoming events next week including the Grand Final parade and March.

Police Association secretary Wayne Gatt hit back and said negotiators had met with the government two weeks ago but they “haven’t put anything on the table”.

Police Association secretary Wayne Gatt hit back says negotiators met with the government two weeks ago but they ‘haven’t put anything on the table’. Picture: David Crosling

He said that the government had been “incompetent in trying to reach an agreement with its workers”.

“It’s been nearly two weeks since we last met with Victoria Police at the Fair Work Commission. They haven’t come back to us with an alternate offer. The government hasn’t put a revised offer on the table. So what are we to do? Just just sit here and do nothing?”

He also referenced other union deals recently settled, including the public sector wage deal and said police wanted similar things

“Our members have seen what the government is prepared to give to other workers, and said, We just want some of that too,” he said.

Opposition police spokesperson Brad Battin said the upcoming action, was a “serious concern for Victorians”.

“The Victorian Allan Labor government have failed to deal with the Police Association to get a positive outcome and ensure that Victorian Police are respected and that we’ve got the police members we need on the job when we need them”, he said.

The Herald Sun revealed that Victoria’s fire service agency was set for a showdown with the powerful fire fighters union in what was being called an “unprecedented test case” that could drastically alter how workplace bargaining was carried out in December.

However, the UFU sought an urgent adjournment from the Fair Work Commission (FWC) after the Closing Loopholes Bill — with contentious amendments by the Greens — passed the federal government, putting the case on hold.

The Herald Sun understands that if Mr Pallas triggers the new intractable bargaining laws all unions and employers in Victoria will be watching the case closely to see whether the outcome will favour one party, and if it will impact how parties negotiate in the future.