Victorian public sector wage cap counter-productive: union

Public sector unions have used Victoria’s ALP state conference to stage an attack on the government’s bid to rein in its $1bn budget deficit.

Public sector unions have hit out at the Andrews government’s wage cap and plans to outsource registration and licensing services at VicRoads.

The ALP’s Victorian conference also saw the party pass a motion calling for a ban on ministers employing staff who are not union and ALP members.

The calls come after state Treasurer Tim Pallas set a wage cap earlier this year for the public sector of 2 per cent per year, and follow a state Auditor-General’s report last week which found the public sector wage bill had blown out by 40 per cent to reach $26.6 billion since Labor came to power.

On Friday, Mr Pallas’s financial report for the September quarter showed the state budget has gone into deficit by almost $1bn.

Public sector union anger over the Andrews government’s wage cap also comes after Mr Andrews and his ministers in September accepted and 11.8 per cent increase to their own pay packets.

Community and Public Sector Union deputy national president Lisa Newman moved a motion at the weekend’s conference calling on the Andrews government to “remove their counter-productive and harmful wage caps.”

Australian Services Union assistant branch secretary Leon Wiegard, who represents staff who work for agencies such as water authorities, VicRoads and Parks Victoria, said the wages cap was “bad for the Victorian economy overall”.

“Employers in local government and other major employers look to the state government to set the standard on wages, so the state government’s wages policy is not just depressing the wages of ASU members at statutory authorities, but wages of all Victorian workers,” Mr Wiegard said.

“We call on the state government to sit down with the ASU and other public sector unions and negotiate a fairer public sector wages policy.”

The resolution was carried on voices.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews addresses the Victorian Labor State Conference in Melbourne on Saturday.

Another area of concern was the Andrews government’s “scoping study” which is currently investigating future options, including outsourcing to the private sector, for the VicRoads registration and licensing services.

ASU branch secretary Lisa Darmanin said 800 workers in 40 offices spread across Victoria from Mildura to Carlton could be affected.

“They are pretty worried about their futures right now,” Ms Darmanin said.

“They are worried because they know what it means when a government says that they are pursuing joint ventures with the private sector, and it usually isn’t good.

“They know the private sector is not interested in helping with the running of VicRoads registration licensing division out of a sense of good will or community spirit, but investment banks intend to make a profit from this public asset.

Ms Darmanin called on the Andrews government to “make the right call” and dump any plans to outsource the VicRoads services.

“Bringing the private sector into VicRoads will mean job cuts, erosion of services, the closing down of regional offices and risks to the security of our personal data and the integrity of our information,” she said.

“We are calling on our government MPs to remember their responsibilities to workers who provide essential public services to the regional communities who do not want to see good public sector jobs lost, to all Victorians who expect the government to keep their personal information safe, we’re asking them to ignore the number crunchers in Treasury telling them how much money they could get for VicRoads, and remember what they got into this for in the first place.”

Health and Community Services Union state secretary Paul Healey also spoke in support of the motion, which passed on voices.

“It does nothing but harm Victorians when we privatise,” he said.

Outspoken Rail, Tram and Bus Union secretary Luba Grigorovitch meanwhile declared war on state ministerial staff members who are not both union and ALP members.

“It absolutely sickens me when we’ve got offices that are populated by non-union members, we have offices that are populated by non-ALP members, and it’s completely wrong,” Ms Grigorovitch said.

“I think it’s about time that our party actually steps up, makes sure everyone in these ministerial offices is at the very least a union member and an ALP member.

“The truth is we’ve got true believers out there who give their blood, sweat and tears day in, day out, go to elections, hand out, whether it be state or federal elections, help out constantly, spend their entire weekend here, and when we have people who are populating ministerial offices that can’t carry a union ticket and aren’t even a member of the party, and we should be embarrassed.

“I think it’s incumbent on each and every chief of staff to ensure that every single one of their staff are actually ticking both of those boxes, and I don’t think we as a party should be ashamed of asking this.

“I hope we can actually produce, at next year’s conference, a list of people who are union members, who are ALP members, who are paying the tithe and doing the right thing by our party.”

Ms Grigorovitch’s motion was also carried on voices.