Ms LEE - 2013-11-27
Can the minister please inform the House about the progress of the EBA negotiations and what unions have said about the current pay offer that is on the table?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the honourable member for her question, because I know she cares very much about education, and education in the bush.
As the Minister for Public Employment, we determined very early in the piece, as a Cabinet, to go to the public servants of the Northern Territory and treat them with a sense of dignity and respect. We did not go through this charade of offering 1% and them demanding 5%. We offered our upper limit in the first instance.
The electrical trades EBA, which was the first discussed in this space. It was taken by the union to its members and they accepted it, because they knew it was a fair and reasonable offer. Subsequent to that, there was slightly more union activity. When it was described to the general public service, which initially rejected but, ultimately, accepted the offer, they looked at the offer, saw what it was about, which was their entitlements and their pay, and they finally, voted for the offer. That has gone through reasonably smoothly.
Here we have an interesting anomaly in the conversation with the teachers’ union, because the teachers’ union is trying to link operational issues …
Ms Manison: And you promised teachers their jobs were safe!
Mr ELFERINK: Goodness, gracious me. Were you like this in class? Did you spend a lot of time in the naughty corner?
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Port Darwin, please continue.
Mr ELFERINK: We are trying to say to teachers that there is an offer on the table. They, by and large, even through their union, have accepted that offer, because we are talking about entitlements and pay. What the union is working very hard to do is draw conditions into this debate and other things like operational issues inside the classroom. Operational issues are a matter for government and the department. What we are saying to teachers is: let us focus on the pay and entitlements because there is no way the EBA can be used as a vehicle to deal with operational issues inside the department. Whilst this anomalous situation is pursued by the teachers’ union you will consistently see the average teacher losing $95 out of their pay. That is something I do not want to see. I want to see our teachers well paid so they can deliver the services for our kids in the Northern Territory.
Whether the teachers’ union likes it or not, this is not primarily, from a government’s perspective, about the teachers and the teachers’ union; it is about the kids of the Northern Territory and making absolutely sure they can get the best possible education, despite the howls from the members opposite …
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the honourable member for her question, because I know she cares very much about education, and education in the bush.
As the Minister for Public Employment, we determined very early in the piece, as a Cabinet, to go to the public servants of the Northern Territory and treat them with a sense of dignity and respect. We did not go through this charade of offering 1% and them demanding 5%. We offered our upper limit in the first instance.
The electrical trades EBA, which was the first discussed in this space. It was taken by the union to its members and they accepted it, because they knew it was a fair and reasonable offer. Subsequent to that, there was slightly more union activity. When it was described to the general public service, which initially rejected but, ultimately, accepted the offer, they looked at the offer, saw what it was about, which was their entitlements and their pay, and they finally, voted for the offer. That has gone through reasonably smoothly.
Here we have an interesting anomaly in the conversation with the teachers’ union, because the teachers’ union is trying to link operational issues …
Ms Manison: And you promised teachers their jobs were safe!
Mr ELFERINK: Goodness, gracious me. Were you like this in class? Did you spend a lot of time in the naughty corner?
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Port Darwin, please continue.
Mr ELFERINK: We are trying to say to teachers that there is an offer on the table. They, by and large, even through their union, have accepted that offer, because we are talking about entitlements and pay. What the union is working very hard to do is draw conditions into this debate and other things like operational issues inside the classroom. Operational issues are a matter for government and the department. What we are saying to teachers is: let us focus on the pay and entitlements because there is no way the EBA can be used as a vehicle to deal with operational issues inside the department. Whilst this anomalous situation is pursued by the teachers’ union you will consistently see the average teacher losing $95 out of their pay. That is something I do not want to see. I want to see our teachers well paid so they can deliver the services for our kids in the Northern Territory.
Whether the teachers’ union likes it or not, this is not primarily, from a government’s perspective, about the teachers and the teachers’ union; it is about the kids of the Northern Territory and making absolutely sure they can get the best possible education, despite the howls from the members opposite …
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016