TSIRC – Cutting its nose off to spite its face

The Last week’s announcement that Torres Strait Island Regional Council will only backpay the 2023 state wage case (5.75%) increase to some staff was disappointing to say the least!

What is abundantly clear is that Council has used a small window of opportunity to not give Council employees on a ‘personal classification’ – (about half of the indoor workforce) a wage increase. Whether you are on the base salary at Council or you are on more than that, you still turn up every day and deliver vital services to the communities that live in the Torres Strait. You deserve a pay rise.

While the Council is busy bean counting right now, all they have done with this is further diminish an already poor office culture. What Council fail to understand is that it is far from an employer of choice. To attract and retain staff, TSIRC needs to be competitive with wages and conditions. Even with the above agreement wage rates that the Council pays to some staff, the wages are mostly not competitive with surrounding Councils or match what staff could earn working elsewhere. The Council also fails to understand that the cost-of-living crisis is still hurting staff and for those staff working up in the Torres Strait or in the Cairns office, goods and services that they purchase have significantly increased since their last wage increase (September 2022).

If you are asking yourself what sort of employer would choose to not to give its workforce a wage increase for two years the answer is simple – a miserable one!

What next?

Union Organisers Tom Rivers and Glenn Desmond will be visiting the Cairns TSIRC office on 13 May to talk to you and run lunchtime log of claims endorsement meetings. This will be your opportunity to ensure you develop a log of claims that prioritises what you need in the upcoming Certified Agreement negotiation.

We are currently running our log of claims survey, so if you aren’t a member but want to fill in the survey you can join our union here and get sent a survey before this Friday’s deadline.

In the meantime our Union will be writing to the TSIRC Councillors to explain exactly what has occurred and how it will be impacting on staff including the potential for even higher turnover and vacancy rates. Our message will be clear – ‘pay staff properly or keep losing good staff’.

Wages will need to be at the top of members’ log of claims for the upcoming negotiations and our Union has already begun conversations with members about the potential for industrial action after the expiry of your current agreement (2 September 2024). We will need to show Council that it has made a big mistake!

If you are frustrated by last week’s wage increase announcement then there is only one way to fight back and that is through a strong Union. Stronger membership with a united voice will tell Council that you mean business. It takes a couple of minutes to join our union here.