Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Unions NT’s Dave Hayes says many government workers will continue to strike as they continue to push for a wage increase

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Unions NT’s Dave Hayes says many government workers will continue to strike as they continue to push for a wage increase · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Now we know that hundreds of Northern Territory government employees,
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: including teachers, correctional officers, firefighters and nurses, walked off the
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: job last week protesting against the four year wage Freese. Now,
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: it came after an eleventh hour offer for teachers and
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: also those correctional officers, which were both rejected. Union's NTS
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: David Hayes joins me on the line right now. He's
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  Speaker 1: also known as Strawbes. Good morning to you.
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  Speaker 2: Strawbs, Good morning Cotie.
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  Speaker 1: Has there been any developments when it comes to those
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  Speaker 1: EBA negotiations, I mean for the teachers and the corrections
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  Speaker 1: officers at this point. No.
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  Speaker 2: My understanding is the offer that was put forward and
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  Speaker 2: rejected last week is the offer that's still on the table,
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  Speaker 2: and that will be going out to vote for the
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: teachers and corrections are still waiting to hear if it's
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: going to go out for them.
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  Speaker 1: From your perspective obviously, not only from the ETU, but
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  Speaker 1: also as the president of Union's NT, how are both
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: corrections and teachers feeling about that offer? And you know,
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: how do you think that vote's going to go?
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  Speaker 2: Look, Katie, I think it's pretty clear that Corrections and
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  Speaker 2: the teachers are not going to accept the four year
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  Speaker 2: wage free. They've shown that with the actions that have
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  Speaker 2: been taken. Corrections have taken i think five days of
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  Speaker 2: protected action now the teachers that are up to three
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  Speaker 2: or four and they're getting out there in big numbers.
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  Speaker 2: So the government needs to go back and look at
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  Speaker 2: this wage's policy and make some changes and implement something
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  Speaker 2: that will address the concerns of the different memberships of
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  Speaker 2: those unions and all the unions public sector unions in
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  Speaker 2: general in relation to you what we're facing in cost
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  Speaker 2: of living, all those expenses that are growing, and that
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  Speaker 2: needs to be looked that seriously.
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  Speaker 1: Now, as I understand, it's not only corrections and teachers
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  Speaker 1: that are going to be taking industrial action. Is it
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  Speaker 1: correct that power and water employees are going to be next?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, We've got notices in to take actions next week.
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  Speaker 2: So there's currently ten agencies are still bargaining Codie, so
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  Speaker 2: fire is, corrections, teaches, TGen power, water, nurses, dentists, police,
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  Speaker 2: salaried medical offices and the Aboriginal health practitioners. So all
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: those agreements are outstanding. There's a firm commitment from the
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  Speaker 2: delegates and the bargaining teams in those processes that we
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  Speaker 2: won't accept the wage fruit and we're prepared to negotiate
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  Speaker 2: some outcomes that work around that.
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: So Storb's with next week. You said that there have
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: been notices for next week, So who are we expecting
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  Speaker 1: to strike next week?
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  Speaker 2: So there's definitely teachers involve, Territory Generation and power and
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  Speaker 2: Water have all got notices in for next Wednesday. And
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  Speaker 2: where those where those notices are used is still to
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  Speaker 2: be decided by the delegates themselves.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. Right, but we could end up in a situation
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  Speaker 1: next week where it's teachers, territory generation, and power and
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  Speaker 1: water staff all going on strike.
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  Speaker 2: That's correct, CODYE. And this is you know, this is
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  Speaker 2: not taken lightly by us, but we're been forced in
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  Speaker 2: or a position after bargaining for some of us for
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  Speaker 2: over eighteen months, where there have been opportunities to achieve
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  Speaker 2: we believe to achieve outcomes and they've been they haven't
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  Speaker 2: been recognized by the government or the OCPE, And this
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  Speaker 2: is where we're at. We need to we need to
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  Speaker 2: push harder and try and get an outcome and get
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  Speaker 2: people to the table and have serious discussions because at
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  Speaker 2: the moment, the decision makers are just not at the table.
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  Speaker 1: How many like how many staff are we talking here
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  Speaker 1: from the likes of power and water and territory generation
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  Speaker 1: and what impact will that have on the operations of
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  Speaker 1: our electricity supply.
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  Speaker 2: So as part of the actions we take, obviously public
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  Speaker 2: safety is a priority, so we can't allow any outages
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  Speaker 2: or things like that that would affect any public safety.
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  Speaker 2: But the general works, the works that are done on
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  Speaker 2: a day to day basis, there'd be potentially hundreds of
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  Speaker 2: workers that are at the gate and those works would
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  Speaker 2: all stop.
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: Well, I mean, the thing is this is getting sort
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  Speaker 1: of more and more disruptive, which I guess is the aim,
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  Speaker 1: you know, from from the unions in an effort to
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  Speaker 1: get to get the government to listen storms. From what
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  Speaker 1: I could see on Thursday last week outside of Parliament House,
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  Speaker 1: you know, you guys were pierced off, to put it
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  Speaker 1: really bluntly, absolutely.
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  Speaker 2: Katie, And look, I was down at Alice Springs for
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  Speaker 2: the rally down there and it was absolutely pouring rain,
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  Speaker 2: It was freezing cold, and there would have been over
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  Speaker 2: two hundred workers out for the morning, you know, at
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  Speaker 2: that rally on that day. And it's not just It's
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  Speaker 2: not just about the wage freeze. It's about resourcing in
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  Speaker 2: the different sectors. It's about the way people are being treated.
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  Speaker 2: There's a lot more to this than just the money.
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  Speaker 2: You're looking corrections, they're looking for safety at work, the teachers,
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  Speaker 2: the numbers in their schools. For our guys. We've got
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  Speaker 2: guys on call out in the regions, you know, almost
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  Speaker 2: every week of the year. The government needs to look
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  Speaker 2: at resourcing all these agencies properly, and they're the big issues.
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  Speaker 2: There's part of the big issues that need to be addressed.
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  Speaker 2: It's not just about the money. And at this point
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  Speaker 2: in time, they're giving us no guarantees that they will
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  Speaker 2: address that in a manner that actually provides outcomes. We
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  Speaker 2: don't need more reports than things that get done. I'm
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  Speaker 2: sitting people's desks. We need actual action done so ensure
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  Speaker 2: that people's safety at work and people are adequately resourced
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  Speaker 2: to form their jobs.
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  Speaker 1: Well. Look, I know that there will be a lot
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  Speaker 1: of people listening who are supportive of what's being done here,
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  Speaker 1: and certainly a lot of you know a lot of
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  Speaker 1: public servants that will be supportive as well and trying
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  Speaker 1: their best to try to make sure that their wages
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  Speaker 1: do go up. On the other hand, there's certainly going
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  Speaker 1: to be people in the private sector listening, particularly probably parents,
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  Speaker 1: who are maybe thinking to themselves, Look, I'm supportive of
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  Speaker 1: our teachers are getting a wage increase and getting better conditions,
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  Speaker 1: but this is now becoming quite disruptive on my children.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, what is your message to those Territorians who
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  Speaker 1: are maybe thinking to themselves, you know, come on, the
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  Speaker 1: Union have taken this a bit too far now.
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: Well it ask those people to stick with us. I'd
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  Speaker 2: ask those people to contact their local members and give
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: them that message because they're the government of the people
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  Speaker 2: that we need to get to the table. This is
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  Speaker 2: for the long term good of the territory. We say
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  Speaker 2: a wage freeze is going to be detrimental in the
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  Speaker 2: long term. We need to attract and retain people here.
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  Speaker 2: The territory is probably one of the most arguably one
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  Speaker 2: of the most challenging places to live and work in Australia.
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  Speaker 2: The amount of work that's going on in the rest
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  Speaker 2: of Australia at this point in time, that's going to
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  Speaker 2: be a challenge in itself keeping people here. So I'd
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  Speaker 2: ask those people to stick with us. Because we're looking
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  Speaker 2: for the long term benefits for the Northern territory. The
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  Speaker 2: government talk about a forty billion dollar economy by twenty thirty.
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  Speaker 2: How are we going to implement that If a public
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  Speaker 2: service isn't here to do all the enable and infrastructure,
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  Speaker 2: you know, housing approvals, all those things. If we haven't
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  Speaker 2: got that public sector here to do the backbone of
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  Speaker 2: all the work through long term is going to be
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  Speaker 2: effected in a negative way. So we're looking long term
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  Speaker 2: with this. It's not just about today or tomorrow. It's
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  Speaker 2: about long term territory benefits.
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  Speaker 1: Straws. Where do they find the money, because let's be honest,
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  Speaker 1: the government's broke CADI.
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  Speaker 2: We understand that there's challenges economically, but you know, we
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  Speaker 2: live in this you know, we live in a society,
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  Speaker 2: a community, not an economy, and if the government doesn't
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  Speaker 2: look after people, the people can't look after the economy.
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  Speaker 2: They're basing a lot of this on a Langolant report
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  Speaker 2: that was done in two thousand and eighteen. There's a
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  Speaker 2: lot that's happened in the world since then. They've had
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  Speaker 2: opportunities to change and make decisions, and they're still sitting
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  Speaker 2: on their hands basing their argument on a report that
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  Speaker 2: was done in two thousand and eighteen. We understand these challenges,
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  Speaker 2: but we believe there's also a lot of efficiencies that
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  Speaker 2: can be gained in the public sector. The amount of
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  Speaker 2: work that is our source to in a state, contractors
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  Speaker 2: and consultants, all that needs to be looked at, and
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  Speaker 2: there's absolute benefits for the territory if this public sector
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  Speaker 2: is running the right way.
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  Speaker 1: That's not the first time that I've heard that that
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  Speaker 1: we're using interstate consultants and workers for various different things,
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  Speaker 1: Like how prevalent do you think that that actually is?
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  Speaker 2: Oh, it's big, Katie. I'll give you just a quick
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  Speaker 2: example of metering installations of pound water. They've got twenty
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  Speaker 2: five thousands to do in the next couple of years.
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  Speaker 2: They want to contract it out to in a straight
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  Speaker 2: contractor well I just employ fifteen Sparki's in the NT.
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  Speaker 2: You know, there's some simple stuff that can be done
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  Speaker 2: which will bring benefits back to the Northern Territory, which
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  Speaker 2: will create efficiencies and save money, and that money will
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  Speaker 2: stay in the Northern Territory and not heading a state.
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  Speaker 2: Some of those open their eyes and start having a
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  Speaker 2: good look at this stuff, Katie, and this wage freeze
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  Speaker 2: is just one part of it.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, what is the message for the government today
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  Speaker 1: as well? Because I know that it was you know,
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  Speaker 1: it was pretty clear to me last Thursday from the
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  Speaker 1: vision that i'd seen on nine News Darwin. You know
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  Speaker 1: that people are really fed up about this wage freeze.
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  Speaker 2: Well, Katie, the message is the public sector unions will
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  Speaker 2: continue the battle on, will continue to negotiate. It's clear
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  Speaker 2: we're not going to asset the wage free and we
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  Speaker 2: need to look at a real outcome for Northern Territory
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  Speaker 2: public sector workers. If you look at, for example, and
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  Speaker 2: orderly in a hospital who's on fifty two grand a year,
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  Speaker 2: they're going to be on fifty two grand a year
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  Speaker 2: in four years time. How they continue to maintain a
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  Speaker 2: mortgage or fuel their cars and things like that over
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  Speaker 2: that length of time on that wage is going to
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  Speaker 2: be questionable. So the government needs to have a good
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  Speaker 2: look at it. They need to sit down with us.
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  Speaker 2: We've given offers of different ways to do it, sit down,
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  Speaker 2: have a three or four days in a room with Treasury,
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  Speaker 2: the whole lot of them, and work a way forward
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  Speaker 2: that those offers haven't been taken up so they need
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  Speaker 2: We're not going to stop. We're going to continue to
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  Speaker 2: pursue to get the decent outcomes in these agreements in
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  Speaker 2: relation and resourcing wages and try and guarantee a good
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: future for the Northern Territory and its workers and keep
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: people here who can do the jobs we need done.
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  Speaker 1: Hey, before I let you go, I understand that there
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  Speaker 1: are also childcare work because that are walking off the
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: job today nationally. Do you know if we've got many
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: walking off the job here in the Northern Territory.
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: Yes, serious, Katie, there's quite a number of childcare centers
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: that will walk off the job today and that's been
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: I think it's probably you could say that's been a
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  Speaker 2: ten year battle trying to get them recognized for the
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: skills that they have. You know, they all hold search
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  Speaker 2: trees similar to a trade base recognition of their responsibilities
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  Speaker 2: and they are some of the lowest plaid workers in
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: Australia who look after our kids.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, it is some. I know, it's such a tough job.
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  Speaker 1: It's such an important job that those childcare workers do.
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  Speaker 1: So we'll make sure that we catch up with one
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: of those childcare workers a little bit later this morning, Strops,
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  Speaker 1: just finally before I let you go. So obviously next
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: week there is going to be further industrial action. You're
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: anticipating that there is going to be hundreds of teachers,
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: power and water stuff and also territory generation stuff that
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: are going to be walking off the job next week.
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  Speaker 1: Do we know what day.
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: With our notices that this stage you're in for Wednesday, Cody,
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: and how that plays out, We'll wait n see.
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: All right, well, we will no doubt hear more over
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  Speaker 1: the coming days. David Hayes, thank you very much for
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: your time this morning.
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: Thanks for interested, Cody, thank you