25 Oct 2008
Our campaign for fair wages has achieved an outstanding success
The state government have agreed to scrap their offer for a 3.25% wage increase over 3 years.
Now they are offering 4.5% for the first year of the agreement, then 4.0% for the two following years, compounded annually; or a $34 a week increase, whichever is more.
More information will be coming soon about how this will affect you personally in your agency. For now, you can visit our summary page, with a copy of the draft Memorandum of Understanding.
It is hard to overstress what a turnaround this is, and it's all because of your support of the Wages Balance campaign.
Initially, the government repeatedly refused to revise its 3.25% offer.
Then the industrial campaigns in Queensland Health, QBuild and Main Roads helped raise the pressure.
Our members made phone calls to their local MP's, got thousands of signatures on our petition to the Treasurer, and attended at our massive rallies on 30 September.
All of this made the issue of wages something too big for the Premier to ignore.
Since 30 September, with the Premier's direct intervention we've secured not only a better wages offer but an end to the threat of trade-offs.
There's a lot of work still to be done: workers in many agencies will still have to campaign for better conditions next year. But they will do it under the umbrella of a fair wages offer.
There will be report-back meetings in Queensland Health to discuss and evaluate the offer. Stay tuned for more news, or check our website.
Congratulations on an amazing win, the best wages enterprise bargaining outcome ever secured for the public sector.
We couldn't have won this victory without our strong union presence.
So let's continue to make it even stronger. Share this message with your work colleagues, and remind them that together, union members make the difference.