Tas gov't pat rise offer means real pay cut

Tasmanian public sector workers will be attending stopwork meetings in the week beginning May 5 to consider a government offer on wages and conditions. In a negotiation process that has dragged on for over 18 months, members of the Health and Community Services Union and the Community and Public Sector Union are seeking pay parity with their interstate colleagues.

The government has offered a 3% pay increase for each year of the agreement, but with inflation currently running at 4% and expected to remain above 3% for at least the next two years, the offer amounts to a pay cut in real terms. The two unions are seeking an increase of 3.5% per annum and a 9% parity increase.

From GLW issue 748