Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / CPSU Regional Secretary David Villegas says they’ve taken the NT Government to the Fair Work Commission hoping for it enforce the pay rise promised to public servants

Transcript

CPSU Regional Secretary David Villegas says they’ve taken the NT Government to the Fair Work Commission hoping for it enforce the pay rise promised to public servants · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: The union representing Public Servants says that it's taking the
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Northern Territory government to the Fair Work Commission a meet
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: confusion over a promised pay rise. Now joining me on
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: the line to tell us a little bit more about
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: the situation is the CPSU's regional secretary David Vilagas. Good
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: morning to you, David.
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: Good morning, Thanks for having me.
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: Yeah, thanks so much for your time. David, tell us
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: what is the situation right now?
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: So the situation is that the Northern Territory Public Service
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: promised the pay rise in October last year and it's
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: now mate, and they have not seen those pay increases.
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: We have exhausted every avenue to get the answers that
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: our members are after and as a result we've had
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: to go to the Spare Work Commission.
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: Now tell me, because like a lot of people listening
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: this morning are going to be thinking to themselves, hang on,
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: you know, what exactly was the pay rise? I remember
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: hearing about the bonus. I remember hearing about the pay
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: rises with all the different public servants, you know, the police,
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: the fires, etc. So which public servants is it exactly
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: and and what pay rise?
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: So the general agreement covers the majority of public servants
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: here in the Northern Territory. It was signed off under
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: the Gunner government and is in place until twenty twenty five. Right,
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: so there was a wage free up until October. The
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: government introduced a new wages policy in October to say
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: that if you're on an existing agreement like the General EA,
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: then you should receive two percent or two thousand dollars
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: pay increase, whichever is greater. Right. And so since that
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: time we have been in discussions with multiple representatives from
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: government trying to get this pay increase through and now
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: we're find ourselves in the position where we've had to
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: go to the Commission to enforce it.
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: Now, like where to from here? Obviously the Commission, you've
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: gone to the Commission, have they stepped in? What have
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: they directed the Northern Territory Government or the Minister to
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: do at this point in time, if anything.
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: So we attended the Commission on the fourth of May.
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: At the Commission, quite frankly, the Fair Work Commission was
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: scathing of how the government had handled the pay increase
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: up until this point, and they've demanded that this matter
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: be addressed, that the pay increases be sorted by the
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: end of this month. If not the public the Commission
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: of a Public Employment will be required to answer directly
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: to the Fair Work Commission, and they have also indicated
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: that they will summon the Chief Minister to explain why
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: this has taken so long. This need be It's a.
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: Pretty unbelievable situation to be and I mean, look what
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: has the has the Chief Minister's response pate have you
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: have you heard or the Minister for Public Employment.
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: Well, this is part of the reason why we have
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: had to go to Fair Work to get the answers.
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: I mean, the things that our members are asking for
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: are painfully reasonable, right, they want to know why it's
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: taking so long, and they just want what was promised
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: to them. Most of the discussions that we had with
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: government were earlier on were in We're taking place late
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: last year, and part of the reason why we had
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: to escalate to a dispute and then to Fair Work
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: was because the information had essentially ground to a halt.
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: Well, honestly, they just can't seem to set a foot
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: right at this point in time. I mean, most people
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: would have assumed that this that this wage increase had
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: gone through. I'm quite surprised to hear that it hasn't.
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: Yes, absolutely, so I've only stept into the role fairly recently.
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: I've slept them to the role of the week that
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: the wage right was announced. So I think we're all
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: quite surprised. I mean, we still don't get us wrong.
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: We welcome the fact that the wage policy was changed,
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: and that was as a direct result of the efforts
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: of our members campaigning for years, and we're glad that
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: the government listens. All we want is for them to
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: deliver what they promise.
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: So they've gotten till the end of these months.
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: Is what the Commission has indicated that otherwise the Commissioner
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: for Public Employment and potential potentially even the Chief Minister
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: will be required to answer directly to the Commission.
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: Well, David, do keep in contact and let us know
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: how things progress. Hopefully this has resolved sooner rather than later.
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: I agree.
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: Thank you, thank you, thanks so much for your time.