Pay increase and a nine-day fortnight? Police say ‘no thanks’, while unhappy ambos escalate dispute

Industrial trouble is deepening in Victoria’s emergency services after police members voted down a proposed pay deal already endorsed by their union and the state’s paramedics called for executives at Ambulance Victoria to resign.

Police Association secretary Wayne Gatt expressed surprise at his members’ rejection of a pay proposal that would have delivered what he said were significant pay rises as well as addressing concerns such as rostering and unpaid work.

Police Association secretary Wayne Gatt.Credit: AAP

“What is clear is that the majority of members felt that they could not endorse the proposed agreement. What is unclear is precisely why. We will get to work to understand why and act upon it,” he said.

“Today, a majority of members voted against a proposed agreement that was put to them in good faith to address unhealthy and long-standing poor workplace practices including unpaid work, inflexible rostering and a lack of time to complete essential paperwork.”

The in-principle deal was agreed in May and would have introduced a nine-hour day and nine-day fortnight. Front-loaded pay increases would have also provided an average wage hike of 4 per cent annually over the next four years.

Gatt said the association would now restart negotiations with the state government and Victoria Police.

Victoria Police, in a statement, said 57 per cent had voted to reject the agreement compared to 43 per cent in favour.

“The community should be assured frontline police services will continue to be provided,” the statement said.

Victoria’s nurses took a similar surprise course earlier this year, initially voting down a pay proposal backed by their union’s leadership. That deal was revised and endorsed at the end of June.

Police Minister Anthony Carbines said the government would work with the association and Victoria Police to reach an agreement.

“We will always back our hard-working and dedicated police members and PSOs and the incredible work they do to keep Victorians safe,” he said.

Premier Jacinta Allan has called for industrial peace.Credit: Darrian Traynor

Meanwhile, Premier Jacinta Allan said Ambulance Victoria must end its “protracted” negotiation with the paramedics’ union and resolve their dispute over working conditions.

Paramedics in the state have engaged in five months of industrial action as they continue to call for a new enterprise agreement, which they have been negotiating for 18 months.

Allan on Friday said she was concerned about the “protracted” dispute between management and paramedics, saying the situation was not sustainable.

“We do need to see better, harmonious relationships,” she told reporters. “It’s important that Ambulance Victoria is focused on the hard work of paramedics, not on these ongoing relationship challenges.”

Her comments follow a vote of no confidence by the ambulance union earlier on Friday, in which 97.8 per cent of members endorsed a call to sack Ambulance Victoria’s current executive.

About 4200 members supported the move, which called for Minister for Ambulance Services Mary-Anne Thomas to appoint new management.

Ambulance Victoria’s chief executive Jane Miller said the organisation acknowledged the vote and respected the right of employees to voice their concerns.

“Our people, along with the patients they care for, are our absolute priority,” she said in a statement.

“We are negotiating in good faith ... to deliver an enterprise agreement which is fair for all and acknowledges the significant value of our people.”

Union secretary Danny Hill said the no-confidence vote was a “massive wake-up call” to both the Ambulance Victoria board and the Victorian government.

Paramedics were being “sent out like robots, just to continue working hours and hours past the end of their shift”, he said.

“The biggest factors crippling the ambulance service and our members, are hospital ramping and call-taking accuracy,” he said. “(Ambulance Victoria’s) response is always ‘that’s out of our control’. The workforce is sick of hearing that.”

On the same day, about 150 members attended a rally outside Thomas’ office to raise awareness of the ongoing strikes, the union said.

Thomas’ office has been contacted for comment.