Treasurer Peter Gutwein appears willing to negotiate public servant pay rise

THE government has indicated a willingness to budge on its 2 per cent annual wage cap for public servants if unions can come up with ways to fund their requested higher pay rises.

Treasurer Peter Gutwein and Premier Will Hodgman. Picture: LUKE BOWDEN

THE Government has indicated a willingness to budge on its 2 per cent annual wage cap for public servants if unions can come up with ways to fund their requested pay rises.

Treasurer Peter Gutwein, below, and Premier Will Hodgman yesterday sat down with the heads of the public sector, health, firefighters and teachers unions for the first time in seven months since workers began industrial action.

The unions embarked on the action in response to the Government’s firm pay offer of 2 per cent pay rises per year over three years.

Mr Gutwein announced this week the budget surplus had shrunk by more than $150 million to about $7 million in the seven months since the budget had been handed down.

Yesterday, the Treasurer said he had asked unions to consider the state’s changed finances and “come back to us with options”.

“If we begin borrowing to fund deficits because we’re funding pay increases that the budget can’t afford, that is unsustainable, and over the longer term that will put members’ jobs at risk,” Mr Gutwein said.

“We’ve asked the unions to consider efficiencies that they might be able to bring to the table and in terms of their members’ needs, other options that they might be able to bring forward. This is for the unions to consider now.”

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Peter Gutwein. Picture: MATHEW FARRELL

The teachers union has given the Government a deadline of February 12 to progress negotiations. Without movement, they said, industrial action could escalate. Australian Education Union state manager Roz Madsen said her group had told the Government it was already getting bang for its buck from their 5500 members, including hours of unpaid work every week. The AEU had offered to constructively address high turnover among principals and new teachers, which would save money on recruitment, she said.

Tim Jacobson. Picture: MATHEW FARRELL

“I got the impression today that they hadn’t considered the benefits and the productivity gains that they’ve already got to date,” Ms Madsen said.

Health and Community Services Union state secretary Tim Jacobson said it appeared yesterday that the Government was willing to talk.

“For the first time the real decision makers — the Premier, the Treasurer — have had the opportunity to hear directly from us,” Mr Jacobson said. “I’m reasonably confident they took on the issues.”

But Opposition Treasury spokesman Scott Bacon said it sounded like Mr Gutwein was asking unions to do his job.

“It’s not good enough for Peter Gutwein to go and tell his own workforce to go and do his job for him.”