TasNetworks employees have voted in favour of a new enterprise agreement that will deliver an overall pay rise of 14% over three years.
The agreement passed by a narrow margin of just 19 votes, with 459 employees supporting it and 440 voting against.
Under the new deal, employees will receive a 7% pay increase in the first year and 3% increases in each of the following two years.
A one-off payment of $6,000 will also be made, along with 15 weeks of paid parental leave for both parents and additional days off during the Christmas to New Year shutdown.
TasNetworks CEO Sean McGoldrick said the agreement supports and rewards employees “better than ever before”.
“We thank our people for overwhelmingly participating in this process,” he said.
“This was an incredibly close vote that demonstrates how passionate our people are about the terms and conditions of the enterprise agreement.”
“We know team members will have different views on this result. This has been a stressful time for our people and we look forward to moving on together.”
The Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union (CEPU) had argued for a higher 35% pay increase to bring workers in line with their mainland counterparts and had labelled the $6,000 offer a ‘bribe’.
The agreement will now go through the Fair Work process for approval.
