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Members of Professionals Australia who operate as transport workers in Queensland have recently taken industrial action, pushing for “equal pay”.
Engineers and technical professionals’ employers at the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads carried out partial industrial action on Tuesday (29 July) over equal pay, with the Queensland government allegedly attempting to withhold an entire day’s pay for those involved.
According to the union, the partial industrial action included a ban on working over 36.25 hours a week, updating of email signatures and/or auto replies to note participation in industrial action, a ban on submitting/approving timesheets, and a ban on completing accelerated training.
“A professional at the Department of Transport and Main Roads is significantly underpaid compared to equivalent professionals right here in Queensland,” said Sean Kelly, director at Professionals Australia.
“They are simply asking for fair treatment. So far, the government’s only offer has been a 3 per cent increase, which is well short of what’s needed to achieve parity.
“Department of Transport and Main Road workers are paid up to 20 per cent less than their colleagues right here in Queensland who are partnering with them to deliver the exact same projects.”
The union alleged that Queensland transport minister Bart Mellish of taking a “sledgehammer” in response to the partial industrial actions undertaken by transport workers.
“These are highly trained and qualified professionals who are responsible for keeping the state of Queensland running – from the building of major roads to our rail networks to running our traffic management system.
“While our members have every intention of making sure that essential services are delivered, the government has said they will direct our members to not work at all,” it said.
“This transport minister is stooping to tactics that were beneath even the Newman government. We haven’t seen this kind of intimidation since Bjelke-Petersen.”
The union claimed that moving forward, they hope to work with the government to alleviate these pay discrepancies to avoid further actions that may hinder various transport networks across the state.
“Without them, our state grinds to a halt. We want to work with the government to avoid delays on major projects or disruption to our transport networks, but it’s time for them to come to the table and pay workers what they are worth.
“Despite months of good-faith bargaining, the government has neglected to address this issue of parity,” said Kelly.
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Industrial relations is the management and evaluation of the interactions between employers, workers, and representative organisations like unions.
Kace O'Neill
Kace O'Neill is a Graduate Journalist for HR Leader. Kace studied Media Communications and Maori studies at the University of Otago, he has a passion for sports and storytelling.
