Fair Work Commission asked to resolve impasse between Victoria Police and union over pay

The Fair Work Commission will decide whether to intervene in an increasingly bitter pay dispute between Victoria Police and the union that represents the state’s 17,000 officers.

The Police Association Victoria is demanding a 24 per cent pay rise over four years and the introduction of new 8.5-hour shifts, which would give officers an extra 14 days off a year.

Police Association members and Victoria Police have been in a long-running dispute over pay.Credit: Eddie Jim

However, Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Luke Cornelius told a commission hearing on Monday that force command had not been authorised by the Allan government to increase its original offer of 3 per cent, which union members rejected in June.

Cornelius said negotiations with the police union had reached an impasse and there was no prospect of a resolution.

After 16 months and almost 120 meetings, Victoria Police has asked the commission to declare the negotiation process “intractable”, which means independent arbitrators from the commission would decide the terms of the new enterprise bargaining agreement.

But the police union is demanding the bargaining process continue and insists it is entitled to use protected industrial action to apply pressure to force command and the government to improve its offer.

John Agius, SC, acting for the union, accused the force of failing to negotiate in good faith.

“You never made a counter-offer. You just picked up your bat and ball and went home,” Agius told the commission on Monday.

He said it was the role of the government to manage its finances and resolve such disputes.

“It’s not extraordinary for a state government to find more money, as they did for the nurses,” Agius said.

In June, the government signed a $1 billion pay deal for Victoria’s nurses, giving them a 28 per cent pay rise over the next four years.

On Monday, officers at North Melbourne police station staged a 30-minute protest, as the union ramps up its campaign of protected industrial action.

Fair Work Commissioner Susie Allison said she would release her decision before the new year.

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