Premier Jeremy Rockliff has avoided guaranteed back pay for Tasmanian firefighters, with wage talks dragging on for more than six months and no resolution in sight.
With negotiations for a new industrial agreement continuing, Labor has demanded the state government commit to retrospective payments.
“Your government has dragged its feet on negotiations and it is now highly unlikely a new firefighting agreement will be finalised by the end of this year,” Labor leader Josh Willie told parliament on Wednesday, as firefighters watched on from the gallery.
Rockliff rejected the call, saying he would not “negotiate wage agreements on the floor of question time” and blamed delays partly on the recent election.
He acknowledged firefighters’ vital role and said wage negotiations are being worked through “in good faith”.
The stoush has highlighted a pay gap, with firefighters receiving just 15% in penalty rates for shift and weekend work – about half what other state servants earn.
“While other state servants receive between 27 and 30% on top of their base wage for shifts and weekends, the firefighter composite salary currently builds in only 15%,” independent MP David O’Byrne told the chamber.
“It’s clear that firefighters, those with supervisory responsibilities, are paid less than other public servants.”
Asked whether firefighters deserved equal pay for equal work, Rockliff said the principle “sounds reasonable at face value” but that more detail was needed.
The United Firefighters Union lodged its pay claim in February, sparking negotiations that have since included several bargaining meetings.
The firefighting agreement is one of 16 public sector deals being handled by government-appointed mediator Norm McIlfatrick.
Union branch secretary Leigh Hills has previously accused the government of stalling talks in the past.
“Last negotiations the premier dragged out negotiations and then refused to include back pay and the evidence suggests that the premier plans to do this again,” he said in July.
“For a government that loves to make a point of thanking firefighters and first responders for their service, these kind of games show what they really think of first responders.”
