Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Katie spoke with CPSU Secretary Kay Densley for an update on the public servant pay bonus

Transcript

Katie spoke with CPSU Secretary Kay Densley for an update on the public servant pay bonus · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: It is just after ten twenty now. A little bit
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: earlier in the week, we did speak about the situation
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: with the public service. Well what was being called a bonus.
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: You would have heard us talking about this as well
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: this morning during the week that was, and we know
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: that it's being reported today in the paper that two
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: unions have accused the Northern Territory government of trying to
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: bribe public servants with a ten thousand dollars bonus in
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: exchange four or four year pay freeze. Now joining me
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: on the line right now is Kay Densley from the
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: CBSU Good morning to UK.
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: Good morning, Katie, Thanks so much.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: For your time again this week. K I know that
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: it is being reported today that well, the governments the
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: unions i should say, or two of the unions have
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: essentially said that it's a case of the Northern Territory
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: government trying to bribe public servants with this bonus. Kay,
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: what are your members telling you, Well, they're telling.
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: Us that they would like to accumulate these payroas and
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: not a bonus. They understand that the bonus comes out
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: of their agency budgets, the existing budgets. So I did
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: hear an earlier conversation with when you had the group
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: of people there about that. But we haven't got any
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: detail about any additional funding coming in, so they've been
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: quite clear. We did a quick call about it. You know,
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: over eighty percent of members said that they would prefer
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: accumulative payro rather than the bonus situation.
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: Yeah, because the Minister for Public Employment, Paul Kirby or
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: as you said, he was on the show a bit
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: earlier this morning and we did talk about it, discussed it,
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: and there were those questions about, you know, if there
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: are if they're employees that are being sort of lost
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: from various departments, they're going to be replaced, And then
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: he did say that if you if they were needing
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: to replace, you know, needing to replace different members of
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: those departments, that there may be a ditional funding provided.
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: It all sort of seemed a bit confusing to me.
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: Kay, It sounds a bit confusing to me too, and
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: certainly has been any detail like that that has been
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: told to us. Our members are also telling us they're
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: feeling pretty insulted about this. There's three agreements now that
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: have been voted down pretty overwhelmingly, and instead of going
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: back to the bargaining table. They've decided to just up
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: the bonus of the temptation before Christmas and say oh,
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: look here the pile of money. Yes or else. Yeah,
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: we're going to have to sit down with the unions.
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: I think what's the words to use and go agency
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: by agency about what jobs will be cut. So, you know,
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: pretty rude statement I think by the Chief Minister.
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: Okay, where do you reckon this is going to land?
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: Because as you've pointed out there, they're obviously hoping to
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: try and sort this before Christmas. It doesn't sound as
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: though the unions and I know that you are just
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: one union. There's plenty of others here in the territory
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: as well, but you know where this is going to
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: land from your perspective and the talks that you've had
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: with the other unions at this point.
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: Well, all the unions or all their members are telling
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: them that, you know, if they don't like the bonus deal.
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: And we just actually got from the Chief Minister, sorry,
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: from the Commissioner for Public Employment that the act what's
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: called the access period, so they have to put the
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: agreement out for seven days, so that will start on Monday,
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: so the votes will actually open Monday week and it's
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: really up to members and the public service to choose
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: whether or not they vote yes or no.
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: To take this on.
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: Otherwise we'll be back at the bargaining table hopefully next
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: next year.
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: Okay, how do you think that these negotiations have been handled?
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: Well, oh, look at negotiations are going fine. And obviously
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: there's a number of things that we call out and
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: they called not agreed. So that's the that's the way
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: it goes. And we have been doing that for months
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: since March. So all that was fine until you know
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: then they just throwing this thousand dollars and uh, you
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: know that that doesn't accumulate and it's different than what
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: within the budget repair outcomes in the recommendations, So you know,
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: rightly people said, well, no, that's not good enough.
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: Just before I let you go, okay, what kind of
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: impact is it going to have in terms of you know,
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: this bonus that has been announced or proposed i'd say
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: by the Chief Minister. What kind of impact is it
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: going to have on the various departments if they're having
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: to find that money from within the budgets, is it
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: going to work as easily as what the government seems
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: to think it is in the sense that they're saying,
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: you know, staff are leaving, so we'll be able to
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: find the money from where those staff have left.
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: A well, I think you know, agents who are going
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: to have to think about their budget and what services
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: they provide, certainly because it will reduce their budget their
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: existing budget. I think, you know, considering that the bonus
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: is taxable, I think it's a it's a big boon
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: for the tax office. So you can imagine do the
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: sums about how much tax people are going to pay
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: on these lumps from bonuses if if it is voted up,
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: So you know, I think there will be an impact
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: agency so we'll have to think about, you know, what
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: services they provide and how many stuff they need to
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: do it. And yes, we'll see what happens. So it's
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: all up to members or the unions are asking their
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: members to vote, know, so let's see how it goes.
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: Yeah, hey, just with that snap poll as well, that
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: was I think you mentioned that earlier in the week too,
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: But it's happened now obviously, and what kind of info
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: is it gleaned for you?
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: So we there's pretty much in a day and a
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: half we had over four hundred people do it, about
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: twelve twelve point eight percent. I think it was said
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: that they would accept the bonuses. Everybody else said we
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: gave them a choice between what was in the Langolant
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: report one thousand dollars per year for four years or
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: something else So and there's something else where. People told us,
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: you know, two point five three percent two year agreement,
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: which was our original claim. And if the government was
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: serious about this, they were really disgust with us about
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: a shorter agreement with a chum of his pay rise.
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: And then let's see where we are in the economy's
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: cycle there.
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: Wellky, keep us up to date. Thank you very much
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: for your time, and have a good weekend. No worries.
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: Thank you guys.