Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Katie spoke with the CPSU's Kay Densely about the pre-Christmas pay bonus for the public sector

Transcript

Katie spoke with the CPSU's Kay Densely about the pre-Christmas pay bonus for the public sector · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Well, we know that the government has apparently won over
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: public servants with this four thousand dollars pre Christmas hand
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: out and a string of other concessions public servants voting
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: in favor of the government's new wages policy. Now to
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: tell us a little bit more about the situation and
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: how the vote went down on Friday, it is Kay Densley,
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: the Northern Territory's Regional Secretary of the CPSU.
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: Good Morning to UK.
• 0:25
  Speaker 3: Good morning Katie, Kay, how.
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: Did it go on Friday morning?
• 0:32
  Speaker 3: The agreement was actually voted up fifty seven percent, so
• 0:35
  Speaker 3: there was less than half the people eligible to vote
• 0:38
  Speaker 3: who actually did vote. It's pretty disappointing, I think. And yeah,
• 0:43
  Speaker 3: I guess the Gunner government will now go down in
• 0:46
  Speaker 3: history as being, I would think, the worst labor government
• 0:50
  Speaker 3: in history.
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: Kath Sorry, Kay, were you surprised by that result?
• 0:58
  Speaker 3: I was surprised, but they did dang a lot of
• 1:00
  Speaker 3: money in front of people. I guess, just before Christmas.
• 1:04
  Speaker 3: There's a lot of people who are just new to
• 1:06
  Speaker 3: the public service or don't intend to stay. They also,
• 1:11
  Speaker 3: of course, you know, the Chief Minister was threatening people's
• 1:14
  Speaker 3: jobs quite some time beforehand, so you know with those
• 1:19
  Speaker 3: sorts of things. People shouldn't have had to a choose
• 1:21
  Speaker 3: chosen under those circumstances. But that's how it turned out.
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: And kay, you said less than half of those that
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: were eligible actually turned up to vote.
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: So how many voted in the end, I.
• 1:34
  Speaker 3: Don't have the exact number with me. I think it
• 1:36
  Speaker 3: was about six seven hundred or so.
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: Yep. And which look just for those out there listening
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: who maybe don't know exactly, you know, which public servants
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: it was that voted, like what areas of the public
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: service actually voted?
• 1:51
  Speaker 3: So it was a general agreement. So there are a
• 1:54
  Speaker 3: lot of people who are in our membership. For example,
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: work at the hospital. Are the ones that check you
• 1:59
  Speaker 3: in and and sign you're in an emergency for example,
• 2:03
  Speaker 3: the contact traces, the cleaners at the hospitals, and the
• 2:08
  Speaker 3: one to prepare the food rangers, scientists, administrative people. There's
• 2:15
  Speaker 3: a lot of a lot of people come a lot
• 2:18
  Speaker 3: of tasks.
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: Yeah, okay, I know that.
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: When you know when the public servants overwhelmingly rejected the
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: government's pay wages plan in November, So they rejected it
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: when it was at that one thousand dollar payment that
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: was on the table. Do you reckon in the end
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: here that it did come down to more money that
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: got them over the line.
• 2:38
  Speaker 3: Oh, it certainly was an increase in the money. But
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: there's still no pay rise for now for four years,
• 2:43
  Speaker 3: so you know that's an awfully long time. You know,
• 2:47
  Speaker 3: most of the people are between sixty and eighty thousand
• 2:49
  Speaker 3: dollars a year, you know, at the AO three to
• 2:52
  Speaker 3: AO five level for example, so they're going to have
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: to really think about where they spend their money now.
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: Kay, Do you think that this is going to cause
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: any issues when it comes to trying to recruit people
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: from interstate sort of down the track.
• 3:08
  Speaker 3: Well, it's got to be looking when you if if
• 3:11
  Speaker 3: you were think about moving up to the territory about
• 3:14
  Speaker 3: you know, what the situation would be with your money.
• 3:18
  Speaker 3: So I think it could be a hindrance. Obviously, there's
• 3:21
  Speaker 3: still more agreements to be voted, so for example your
• 3:26
  Speaker 3: teacher the next year, we've got the firefighters and correctional officers.
• 3:30
  Speaker 3: They're still power Water and Jacana who both voted no twice.
• 3:36
  Speaker 3: So what we're hoping is that the government actually talks
• 3:39
  Speaker 3: to us this time. And yeah, isn't so piph headed
• 3:44
  Speaker 3: about the whole thing.
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: Okay, So obviously with those ones who voted it down,
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: I Power Water and Jacana, what happens.
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: With them now? Do they have to sort of further negotiate.
• 3:55
  Speaker 3: Well, we're written through on behalf of Jacana asking for
• 3:58
  Speaker 3: negotiations again, so they even had a sort of a
• 4:02
  Speaker 3: double I guess money dangling in the factor. They're actually
• 4:07
  Speaker 3: changing their incremental structure, but there are a few things
• 4:12
  Speaker 3: that need to get fixed. So I think before people
• 4:14
  Speaker 3: are actually accepted, a pay rise would be good as well.
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: Okay, I know I say this every time you and
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: I catch up and talk about this issue. There will
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: be a lot of people listening this morning who are thinking,
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: you know, well, lucky you guys, you're getting a pay increase,
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: or lucky public servants, you're getting a pay increase when
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: so many in the private sector are struggling. You know,
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: what would you say to those listening this morning who
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: are thinking that this is unfair and there's a disparity
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: between the public service and the private sector.
• 4:45
  Speaker 3: Well, I think they've spoken about this before, Katie. You
• 4:48
  Speaker 3: know what will be the effect on the private sector.
• 4:52
  Speaker 3: So I think that a lot of plases are going
• 4:54
  Speaker 3: to be saying they don't need to give a pay
• 4:55
  Speaker 3: rise now. So some of those nbos, for example, schools
• 5:01
  Speaker 3: and private schools, et cetera, you some place of ability
• 5:04
  Speaker 3: flag that they might be giving a pay rise because
• 5:07
  Speaker 3: the public service haven't. So let's see what the effect is. Obviously,
• 5:11
  Speaker 3: people will have less money to spend in local businesses.
• 5:14
  Speaker 3: So you know, when people are saying that public servants
• 5:18
  Speaker 3: are paid too much, their business probably relying on public
• 5:22
  Speaker 3: servants to buy their goods, et cetera.
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: Well, kay Denzil, I really appreciate your time this morning.
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: I probably won't talk to you now before the end
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: of the year, so I hope that you have a
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: great Christmas and no doubt we'll talk again in the
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: new year.
• 5:37
  Speaker 3: Thanks you, Kadian. To everybody else, thank you,