Tasmanian State Budget 2019: ‘No help in sight’ in Budget, say unions

Unions representing the state’s public sector workers have greeted the State Budget with a mixture of anger and dismay.

Thirza White and Tom Lynch from the Community and Public Sector Union after the 2019 State Budget was handed down. Picture: RICHARD JUPE

UNIONS representing the state’s public sector workers have greeted the State Budget with a mixture of anger and dismay.

Unions and the State Government have been at loggerheads over the past 12 months after the Government’s 2 per cent wage rise cap proved a stumbling point in enterprise negotiations.

The budget delivers the prospect of continued wage restraint, plus a 0.75 per cent “efficiency dividend” on government agencies and a sweeping review of the laws governing the public sector.

Community and Public Sector Union general secretary Tom Lynch said the budget signalled continuing conflict between the Government and its workforce.

“For public sector workers, the Hodgman Government’s message today is you can have a wage cut, I’m going to cut your colleagues and for the next four years services will go backwards further than they already are,” he said.

“Despite his budget predicting inflation to run above 2 per cent, he is effectively announcing today that public sector workers will need to take pay cuts over the next four years.

“There is no way in the world that people are going to move to Tasmania — which is now a very high-cost place to live — to earn salaries that are below what is being paid in other states.

“And they’re going to be lower next year and lower the year after and lower every year of this budget.”

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Mr Lynch said that while the Government has guaranteed “frontline services” it was clear more jobs would go from the public sector.

“In addition he is gouging $450 million dollars from funding for agencies to deliver services to the community and that will be the equivalent of 1500 jobs over the next three years: 500 jobs a year will need to be cut to pay his $450 million efficiency dividend,” he said.

“Now I have no idea how he thinks that agencies that are already under stress, services right across our state that are under stress, are going to be able to deal with 1500 fewer employees.”

Tim Jacobson, from the Health and Community Services Union, said the budget had delivered no help for health workers.

“The biggest issue for us is the fact that we know that there is immense pressure on all of us whether you work in the front of emergency departments or ambulance or even behind the scenes prior to providing support.

“The reality is that there is actually no help in sight in terms of addressing those issues. In this budget another 12 months of what we’ve got will lead to more issues in our health system, will lead to more ramping, it will mean that we are seeing worse outcomes for patients across the community.”