Tasmanian public sector wage deal: Government strikes a one-year deal

UPDATED: Tasmania’s public sector workers are preparing to vote on a one-year pay rise deal — but the fight for a better wage agreement continues.

TEACHERS, nurses, paramedics and prison guards could receive a long-awaited pay boost worth up to 2.4 per cent after the Government and public sector unions reached an in-principle agreement on wages.

Union members will be asked to vote over the next fortnight on a proposed 12-month agreement that would deliver a 2.1 per cent pay rise backdated to each workforce’s last agreement, an additional 0.25 per cent from the new agreement’s signing, and a one-off payment worth 0.15 per cent for workers on less than $80,000.

Workers earning more than $80,000 would receive a cash payment of $120.

Treasurer Peter Gutwein and Premier Will Hodgman sat with union heads on Thursday to put forward the offer, which will cost taxpayers an extra $8 million.

“There are no additional terms and conditions [for public sector workers],” Mr Gutwein said after the meeting.

“This simply provides an opportunity for a sensible reset.”

PREMIER WON’T RULE OUT PS JOB CUTS

Negotiations will continue on the final two years of the three-year agreement after the proposed 12-month agreement is signed off.

Mr Gutwein would not comment on whether the Government would stick to its 2.1 per cent pay offer for those final two years.

Unions will likely cease industrial action until negotiations wrap up in November. If no agreement is struck, the matter will be referred to the Tasmanian Industrial Commission.

Community and Public Sector Union state secretary Tom Lynch said public service employees hoped for a wage increase above the cost of living.

“I’m going to go in positive, I’m a very optimistic person,” Mr Lynch said.

“I’m going to go in there and say what the pressures are that are on us, I understand the pressures on the Government, and I hope that we can come to a reasonable outcome on that basis.”

GOVERNMENT REJECTS TEACHER UNION’S COUNTER OFFER

But Australian Education Union state president Helen Richardson labelled the proposed agreement “disappointing”.

“The Government has cut their wages offer to teachers and removed a previous proposal agreed by both parties to reduce workload by recruiting new specialist teachers ahead of the 2020 school year,” Ms Richardson said.

The union had previously agreed to an offer that would improve conditions for most members, but reneged after backlash from relief teachers, who faced a pay cut.