Government’s True Colours Revealed In Revised Offer For AHPs-AHAs

The government has issued a disgraceful “revised” offer for a new separate agreement for Allied Health Professionals and Allied Health Assistants.

While this offer would apply to AHPs and AHAs, it has impacts for all workers covered by the salaried agreement.

The government’s revised AHP offer strips out critical conditions and includes an average pay rise of just over 3% per year for four years (the fourth year is 2.5%).

The PSA’s negotiating position is for a single salaried agreement which retains all PSA members’ hard-won conditions, and which deals with the cost of living and attraction and retention crises.

The offer demonstrates that the government is still completely unwilling to provide the required salary increases that will address the cost of living pressures all members are facing.

The offer reveals the government’s current approach to the salaried enterprise agreement negotiations, and their contempt for their workforce. 

The government’s miserly condition-stripping proposals for a separate AHP-AHA agreement are reminiscent of the disgraceful Work Choices era.

This government should be ashamed of treating its workforce with such disrespect and adopting such a hostile approach.

The PSA has formally advised the government that we reject the revised offer for a separate AHP-AHA agreement. (view the PSA’s letter here) PSA response to AHP-AHA offer 250429.pdf

The PSA has provided the government many times with our requirements and objectives for a single successor agreement to the current salaried enterprise agreement.

The PSA has told the government we stand ready to continue to engage in constructive negotiations for an agreement that meets PSA members’ requirements for:  

• a significant pay increase  

• maintaining and improving existing conditions   

• job security        

• protection from unreasonable workloads, and       

• respect and dignity which our state’s public sector workers so richly deserve.

The PSA has repeatedly told government that any wage outcome needs to make up for the fact that our members have seen an 8-10% decrease in the real value of their wages. Making up this difference must be the starting point before additional wage increases are applied to keep above inflation in future years.

Attraction and retention remain significant areas to address. Wages play a key part in this.

The government must focus its attention on negotiating a successor agreement to the current salaried agreement instead of focussing on stripping conditions away from certain groups of workers and creating division and disharmony in the public sector workforce.

The PSA’s requirements for a successor agreement to the salaried agreement are based upon treating public sector employees with respect and dignity, and treating the public sector as a treasured and valued community asset.

The PSA will provide more information about the government’s proposals in the near future.