The Tasmanian government has offered state employees a 3% pay rise in a bid to break stalled wage talks covering 36,000 public servants.
Premier Jeremy Rockliff described the one-year deal as “fair, reasonable and affordable” while keeping existing conditions in place.
The offer applies to workers covered by 16 industrial agreements that expired earlier this year.
Negotiations between the government and unions have dragged on for months.
“This offer recognises the need for state service employees to receive a fair, reasonable and affordable pay rise while also respecting the action we need to take on budget repair,” Rockliff said.
“Tasmania needs to have a sustainable public service that is valued and operates as effectively and efficiently as possible.”
“We are focused on increasing productivity across the state service and supporting both the professional development and capacity of our workforce.”
The 3% rise is “well above” Tasmania’s annual inflation rate of 1.7%, he said.
Rockliff said the rollover agreement would buy time for longer-term deals to be struck before the end of the year. He urged unions to put the offer to members quickly.
“I encourage the unions to put this offer to their members as a matter of urgency to ensure our hard-working employees get a pay rise as soon as possible,” he said.
The government has signalled it wants to lift productivity across the state service and has long spoken of finding the “right size” public service.
A freeze on hiring non-essential positions remains in place to support that push, with no end date set.
