The latest offer put forward by the Northern Territory Government is a mixed bag – with some winners and some losers. The offer has taken into account some elements of the CPSU and joint union claims, with a number still being discussed.
It has to be acknowledged that the NTG offer does target key areas of
concern, such as the attraction and retention of professional workers, and there
are a number of positive outcomes for workers. Despite this, the CPSU is of the
opinion that the overall benefits are not spread evenly over the public service.
In particular, there is little benefit for A01 to A06 workers and NTPS women.
To put this in perspective, a relatively small number of employees at senior
levels may gain an extra five to 15 percent over the next three years if the
agreement is accepted in the current form, while rest of the public service will
get a pay rise less than the local CPI (currently 3.5%, up from 2.7% in
September 2009). Access to the extra pay is linked to a new performance
assessment that has been proposed in the NTG offer.
Snapshot of the positive and negative elements of the NTG offer
The positive elements of the NTG offer are:
New classification structure for Professional, A07 to EC1 workers which
will expand career paths and deliver increases in pay for some workers over
and above the annual increase.
Minor improvements for Technical stream workers such as the T1 to T2
progression and increased earnings for T6 workers.
Incentives for regional and remote employees, and graduates.
Commitment to job security (no forced redundancies).
The offer from the NTG is disappointing because:
a three percent pay offer is well below current (and expected) local
CPI.
the low pay offer does not recognise the hard work and achievements of
workers over the past three years.
the low pay offer is not enough to attract and retain workers in the
NTPS.
the low pay offer is particularly harsh for NTPS women with a majority
only earning under $45K a year.
no direct improvements or initiatives for A01 to A06 employees.
around 75% of administration stream workers are currently locked at the
top of their grade and will only receive a pay rise that is well below local
CPI.
refusal to pay a modest increase in superannuation is short-sighted and
is at odds with the Federal Government, industry experts and unions.
The big ticket claims that are still being negotiated are:
Pay/superannuation – joint union claim
A01 to A06 review – CPSU claim
Pay Equity Audit – CPSU claim
Superannuation contributions to be paid during unpaid maternity leave –
CPSU claim
Maternity / Paternity leave provisions – joint union claim
Union and Delegate rights – joint union claim
What’s happening for the rest of July?
Tuesday 20
CPSU to release a short email survey seeking feedback and direction
from members
Wednesday 21
Negotiation meeting with NTG
Thursday 22
Negotiation meeting with NTG
Monday 26
CPSU to release a comprehensive analysis of all NTG, CPSU and joint
union claims for your consideration
CPSU in the media
ABC local radio interviews with CPSU Regional Director and Commissioner for
Public Employment are attached at right
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Comments(17)
Posted by:P..... Off PS - 26 Jul 2010, 11:01pm I would be very surprised if the following statement from the CPSU was correct, "a relatively small number of employees at senior levels may gain an extra five to 15 percent over the next three years if the agreement is accepted". There would be literally hundreds and hundreds at these levels throughout the PS. Somebody please give us the numbers of AO7's and up.
Posted by:Upset - 22 Jul 2010, 4:53pm If all public servants aren't getting the same increase then it should be no deal...end of story. The AO7's and up are getting paid well enough. As everybody knows only too well, most of them are in these positions because they are friends of friends ie. party together. Enough is enough, the same increase for everybody
Posted by:Offer terms need to be circulated to all - 22 Jul 2010, 3:22pm The NTG employees are not all aware of the offer and the negotiations and since we are all affected an email should be sent out to all governmental generic emails so that the message gets across to a wider audience.
Posted by:Salli - 22 Jul 2010, 2:18pm The most important message that people need to hear, is that if we accept the offer of 3% per annum, we will be even further behind other public sector employees. There is no way that the Police or Teachers or Firefighters will accept a rise that is below the CPI. Three years ago, we undersold ourselves while those covered by other agreements secretly laughed at us. Let?s not do it again.
Posted by:Fed up - 22 Jul 2010, 10:31am It always seems to be about management and not the frontline/operational workers. Talking from experience the level / amount of work that is expected from A04 - A06 (unclaimed overtime, excess flex not able to use)is at most times very unrealistic. Cannot retain staff because the remuneration does not meet the workload/responsibility levels..Constantly short staffed!!! Remaining staff are overworked, become stressed/sick. Always seems to be about managers upwards only, bugger the lower levels. One Director commented that A04 levels were usually a lowly uneducated group of people. If they did not have the lower levels where would management be!!!!!!! Also, A01 - A06 have to follow the recruitment merit system...so many times seen higher levels just put in (who you know, mates - mates!)then trained up and either win the job or appointed. If your not in with the social work yuppies you do not seem to progress no matter how hard you work.
I would be very surprised if the following statement from the CPSU was correct, "a relatively small number of employees at senior levels may gain an extra five to 15 percent over the next three years if the agreement is accepted". There would be literally hundreds and hundreds at these levels throughout the PS. Somebody please give us the numbers of AO7's and up.
If all public servants aren't getting the same increase then it should be no deal...end of story. The AO7's and up are getting paid well enough. As everybody knows only too well, most of them are in these positions because they are friends of friends ie. party together. Enough is enough, the same increase for everybody
The NTG employees are not all aware of the offer and the negotiations and since we are all affected an email should be sent out to all governmental generic emails so that the message gets across to a wider audience.
The most important message that people need to hear, is that if we accept the offer of 3% per annum, we will be even further behind other public sector employees. There is no way that the Police or Teachers or Firefighters will accept a rise that is below the CPI. Three years ago, we undersold ourselves while those covered by other agreements secretly laughed at us. Let?s not do it again.
It always seems to be about management and not the frontline/operational workers. Talking from experience the level / amount of work that is expected from A04 - A06 (unclaimed overtime, excess flex not able to use)is at most times very unrealistic. Cannot retain staff because the remuneration does not meet the workload/responsibility levels..Constantly short staffed!!! Remaining staff are overworked, become stressed/sick. Always seems to be about managers upwards only, bugger the lower levels. One Director commented that A04 levels were usually a lowly uneducated group of people. If they did not have the lower levels where would management be!!!!!!! Also, A01 - A06 have to follow the recruitment merit system...so many times seen higher levels just put in (who you know, mates - mates!)then trained up and either win the job or appointed. If your not in with the social work yuppies you do not seem to progress no matter how hard you work.