CANBERRA — At noon on June 9, around 40 staff working for Governor-General Michael Jeffery at Government House in Yarralumla walked off the job to demand a wage rise after almost nine months of negotiations. The staff had rejected a management pay offer of 15% over 40 months as inadequate.

Community and Public Sector Union organiser Vince McDevitt said on June 8 that the staff, including gardeners, butlers and caterers, currently receive pay rates that are “generally around 4% behind other departments doing comparable work. For example, a gardener working in Government House grounds is paid several thousand dollars a year less than a gardener doing the same job at Parliament House.”

The following day, management revised its pay offer to 15% over 31 months.

Nick Everett

From Green Left Weekly, June 22, 2005.
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