Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Unions NT President Dave “Strawbs” Hayes says a 2 per cent pay rise for public servants won’t cut it with further strike action likely next week

Transcript

Unions NT President Dave “Strawbs” Hayes says a 2 per cent pay rise for public servants won’t cut it with further strike action likely next week · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Joining me on the line right now is Dave Hayes,
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: the president of unions here in the Northern Territory. Good
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: morning to you, Strawbes.
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: Good morning Katie.
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Now, mate, tell us where things are aunt at the
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: moment when it comes to the pay negotiations for public servants.
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: So look, Katy, it's all happening at the moment. Obviously,
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: on the fifth of October, the government announced the frosting
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: of the wage freeze, which we welcome, but unfortunately that
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: doesn't go far enough with the two percent that's been
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: often and he's on the table and our members are
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: pretty angry about that, and they're continuing in protect the
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: industrial action across many parts of the Northern Territory public
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: service at the moment, and so.
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: They are considering further industrial action, which I guess which
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: unions are we talking about, a which sectors are we
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: talking about? And when could that industrial action kick off?
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: So there's quite a number at the moment, Katie. So
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: there's there's ongoing action that's currently been taken across corrections,
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: fire is powerwater, t GEN and the teachers. But we're
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: also looking at a day of action next week on Thursday,
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: the seven eighth where we'll be out in our numbers
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: sending the government the message that two percent is and
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: just isn't going to cover it.
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: So Thursday next week looking at another day of action,
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: will that mean that for schools, for example, that the
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: teachers will be striking.
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: So with the teachers, Katie just they're waiting on some
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: correspondence from the OCP over the next couple of days, yep.
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: But they've definitely put in their notice of action. Whether
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: they take that or not as yet to be decided
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: for the teachers. But I can guarantee you that correction, power,
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: water and TGen they'll be adding great numbers to push
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: the government and let the government know that the two
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: percent isn't enough.
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  Speaker 1: What's that going to mean to the wider community in
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: terms of disruption to there, you know, to the services
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: that they all provide.
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: Well, Katie, we always ensure that we have call out
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: through and those sort of people available. So in relation
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: to power, water and t Gen, power will still be supplied,
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: the power will still be on and any faults will
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: be attended to. But the general deception will go to developers, contractors,
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: all the works that get done day today, they'll all
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: be coming to a whole now, I mean.
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: Is what's the concern here from these public service workers?
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: Because I know a lot of people listening this morning
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: that maybe work in the private sector, They're going to
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: be thinking to themselves, Hey, two percent and a change
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: to some of those conditions. I'd take that. I can't
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: get that at this point in time from my own workplace.
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: So what exactly are they after?
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  Speaker 2: Look, Katie, we want to package the addresses the cost
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: of living concerns that everyone's currently under facing. And governments
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: have to lead in this space. If the governments lead
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: and get wages and conditions up, the private sector follows.
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: And we need just people to understand that this has
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: to happen. The public sector is the biggest employer in
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  Speaker 2: the Northern Territory and it leads leads the wages and
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: conditions that are paid around the place. So our members
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: are looking for a package that addresses those concerns, and
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  Speaker 2: two percent at this point in time just doesn't even
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: go close. And you know, if you look at c
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: dou at the moment they're about to go to the
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: vote next week, they're offering a four percent increase in
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: the first year and then two two percent after that,
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: that'll be a no vote that occurs out there at
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: c DOU. All the members out there are going to vote. Know,
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  Speaker 2: it just doesn't address the concerns of cost of living
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: over the coming years.
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: Where's the government going to find the money? Those straws,
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: I mean, they broke, Katie.
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: We've been here before and we've had these conversations before.
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: The government needs to look in at our agencies with
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  Speaker 2: the use of consultants and contractors and the amount of
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: money that's being wasted. And I think you could speak
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: to anyone in the public service and they would know
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: there is many areas that can be tightened up. We've
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: got so much money going in a state. We've got
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: people working out of inner state offices and all that
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  Speaker 2: money is not going into the territory. We've got contractors
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: coming in performing big bodies of work. All that money
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  Speaker 2: goes out of the territory. If they have a good
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: hard look at this public service, there can be big
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: benefits for the Northern Territory and big benefits for the
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: population of the Northern Territory and get this place run
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: and properly.
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: That's actually a point that I reckon a lot of
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: people would probably be surprised by is that there is
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: consultancy work that happens interstate. There are different people that
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: are flywn in at different times. I mean, do we
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: have any idea you know, how much that is costing
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: the Northern Territory government or just how many consultants are
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: being employed across the board.
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: Look, Katie, we can't get we can't get absolute numbers
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: on that, but I always say the way I described
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: is they're run on two sets of books. They're running
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: a set of books that people can see with the
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: public service, and there's another set of books that really
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: that money just goes out of the territory. And if
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: that was really looked into and dived into, there was
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: offsets and benefs available in every sector where we can
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: I move that back into the public service itself and
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: that money will stay in the territory. I just can't
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  Speaker 2: believe it's still going on and we're having these conversations
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  Speaker 2: probably two years after they started in this bargaining process,
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  Speaker 2: and no one's doing you know, no one's doing a
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: big body of work. And some of that work has
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: been done and no one's acting on it.
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: That's the problem now, Dave Hayes, I'm pretty sure tomorrow
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: for the week that was, I've got Paul Kirby on
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  Speaker 1: the show. What is your message for him when it
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: comes to this public sector well wage kind of you know,
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: discussion or negotiation that continues on Katie.
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: Look, we've still got ten agreements that are outstanding. There
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: needs to be an urgency from government to get these
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: agreements solved. We're now we've had our first meetings last
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: week after the announcement of the new wages policy or
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: the bargaining policy. We are now you know, we're meeting
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: two weeks in two weeks time, we're meeting again with
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: the OC. Where's the urgency. Let's get together, let's get
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: in a room, let's bash it out, and let's get
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: a result for people with the Northern Territory and things
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: moving and emergency in the process.
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: It's the problem here is as well. You know, we're
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: only a few weeks away from school finishing for the year.
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: So for areas like education, you need to make sure
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: that this is locked in so that we can ensure
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: that teachers are coming back next year.
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: Right, Absolutely correct, Ky, So by mid next week, the
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: teachers or the AEU needs a decision so that they're
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: teachers given that the time it is in the term,
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: in the school year, so they can make a decision
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: about next year about what they're going to do. So
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: the government needs to really get down the business, especially
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: with the teachers, to get that deal done and get
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: a good offer on the table that will be accepted.
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: And it can't have twos in it, Katie, It's just
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: not going to be accepted by the members. We've been
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: up and down the track all the unions in the
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: last few weeks and as a long there's allowed and
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: clear message from our membership that nitthing with two percents
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: in it isn't even close and we need to get
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: packages together that they are going to keep people in
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: the territory and keep people working hard to whether it
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: be education, whether it be care, whether it be pound water,
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: central services, by these corrections, all those areas, we need
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: to get good deals to keep people in the Northern Territory, Katie.
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: Yesterday in the paper there was we're looking at the
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: three hundred thousand dollars three hundred thousand people population by
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: twenty thirty. How are we going to possibly do that
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: when we can't even pay the people who are here,
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: they're going to going out in droves.
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: Well, I can't understand. I can't understand how the government
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: thinks that they're going to grow the population at this
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  Speaker 1: point in time, you know, when they've got the issues
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: that they're currently dealing with. So I think that that's
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: a fair point for you to make, particularly, you know,
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: when public servants in other states and territories there's no
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: doubt that they're getting better payoffers Storbes. I know though
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: that there's going to be people listening this morning who
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: are thinking public servants are being greedy?
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: Are they? They're not, Katie, As I said, governments leave everyone.
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: That doesn't matter. If you're a public service worker. In
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: the private sector, you are copping the cost of living increases,
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: you cop on the home lines going up. Everyone's in
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: a similar boat. Not all public servants are highly paid.
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: There's a vas vast majority that are a load of
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: middle income earners and so everyone's feeling it.
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: Caatie, is it time for us to relook at as
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: well the number of executive level contracts that there are
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: within the Northern Territory government.
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: Kay, We've been beating that drum for a couple for
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: years that needs a big shakeup. In our opinion, if
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: you look at somewhere like Pound Water, you've got sixty
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: percent in business support, you've got forty percent on the ground.
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  Speaker 2: It should be the other way around. Your boots on
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  Speaker 2: the ground should be up around the sixty percent and
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: your business support unit should be thirty to forty percent.
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  Speaker 2: It's just all upside down in so many areas in
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: this in this public service, and it needs a good shakeup.
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  Speaker 1: Well, Dave Hayes, Union z NT President, I appreciate your
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: time this morning. Thanks so much for chatting with us.
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: Thanks for very interest. Katie