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Queensland doctors, police officers and customer service workers have struck a deal for higher pay with the state government, while nurses, teachers and firefighters prepare to escalate their efforts to secure better wages.
On Sunday, the Crisafulli government announced it had reached in-principle agreement with Queensland Health’s 15,000-strong medical officer workforce, comprised of junior and senior doctors, registrars and specialists working across emergency departments, specialist wards and ambulance services.
The deal, which health minister Tim Nicholls said was subject to member approval, secures an 8 per cent increase over three years, along with guaranteed cost of living provisions should the CPI rate rise above the state government wages policy.
Health minister Tim Nicholls announced a deal for doctors and other public sector workers on Sunday. Credit: Matt Dennien
It also offers a new career medical officer classification, an increased attraction and retention allowance for rural generalists and an increase in overnight allowances.
Secretary of public sector union Together, Alex Scott, said inflation figures released on Wednesday painted the offer in a favourable light.
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“[Those figures] show that the current wages offer ... is higher than inflation,” he said.
“In terms of our ability to consider whether or not our members are better off under collective agreements or not, having a wage offer that is above inflation is fundamentally important to us.”
Nicholls said an agreement had also been reached with staff of the newly formed Customer Services, Open Data and Small and Family Business (CDSB), and Queensland Police Service’s Protective Services officers.
Those agreements follow the finalisation of an enterprise agreement with the QPS – which included an $8000 retention incentive – announced last week.
For other public sector employees, including nurses, midwives, teachers and firefighters, negotiations continue, with some workers preparing to take industrial action in coming days.
Last week, thousands of Queensland state school teachers voted to walk off the job this coming Wednesday, with families of half a million primary and highschool students encouraged to keep children home.
The 24-hour strike is the first of its kind in 16 years, with the Queensland Teachers’ Union warning more strikes could be imminent.
“We do not do this lightly. We have been left with no choice because education in this state is at breaking point,” the union said.
Queensland’s 48,000 unionised public nurses and midwives have been engaged in stage 2 protected industrial action since July as they continue to fight for a 13 per cent increase over three years.
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Nicholls said negotiations with the Queensland Nurses and Midwives’ Union had taken “a slightly different track from the one we’ve had with doctors”, but insisted both parties are working towards an agreement.
“We are still negotiating and remain willing to negotiate with our nurses,” Nicholls said.
“We remain in conciliation … and as I said in the past, we will work calmly and methodically through the issues where we have differences.”
Queensland firefighters are also threatening protected industrial action after failing to reach a wage deal with the government.
The union was seeking a 6 per cent annual pay rise by July 31.
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