Parks Victoria to strike ‘after more than a year of failed negotiations’

The Australian Services Union (ASU) has announced the latest industrial action by its members.

Staff will commence a one-hour stop work on the morning of 25 May and rally outside Parks Victoria headquarters in what is the agency’s first protected action since 2012.

According to the ASU, Parks Victoria has not made a change to its original offer of a 3 per cent wage increase, maintaining that it is barred by a cap implemented by the state government’s Wages Policy.

Nurses and teachers in the state are currently receiving more than 7 per cent under the same policy – which, the union collective asserted, is thoroughly deserved.

However, after more than 12 months of enterprise agreement bargaining resulting in zero change, the ASU maintains there is no other alternative, adding that, should the strike not lead to a satisfactory resolution, union members may close public parks.

The aforementioned strike 14 years ago saw park rangers refuse to unlock entrance gates to Victorian national parks during the 2012 pay dispute with the state government, which had been in negotiation since October 2011.

Ahead of Monday’s strike, acting ASU Victoria and Tasmania branch secretary Zoe Edwards said: “Our members at Parks Victoria have had enough of being treated like second-class public sector workers.”

“Our members are dedicated professionals who take immense pride in serving their communities. They don’t want to inconvenience the public, but at the same time, they cannot afford to see their wages continue to plummet in real terms.”

Calling on the Allan government to “sort out this mess”, she added: “It is a total failure of leadership by senior management at Parks Victoria to fail to come up with a fair pay offer after more than a year.”

The strike hopes to bring greater pay parity with the Victorian Public Service, with Edwards concluding: “Parks Victoria Workers are paid significantly less than their VPS colleagues for doing the same work.”

In a joint statement late last week, the ASU and Professionals Australia announced the commencement of a 72-hour work stoppage by workers at DXC Technology, halting incident response for services relied on by the Commonwealth Bank Australia, VicRoads, and Victoria Police.

Unions have warned that it could put numerous services at risk and cause delays in major government programs.

While the action concerned the use of contractors missing certain government clearances, workers were fuelled by reported years without wage increases, and proposals to wind back standby and on-call conditions, which could see some employees lose more than $10,000 annually.

The 72-hour strike represents an escalation by DXC Technology workers, following a 24-hour stop work on 2 April this year.

On the ongoing strike, director at Professionals Australia – the union servicing IT professionals, among others – Paul Inglis, said: “This action reflects the seriousness of the situation.”

“Our members are seeking a fair agreement that recognises the value of the work they deliver everyday.”

In the same vein, ASU SA and NT assistant secretary Ella Waters said: “Our members at DXC have gone years without a meaningful pay rise, watching their wages fall significantly behind inflation.”

“The impact of DXC’s failure to produce a meaningful pay offer for workers is that Australia’s critical services at the Commonwealth Bank are at risk, while key state infrastructure like the VicRoads modernisation project continues to face major delays.”

She added: “The absolute chaos caused by this dispute has even forced Victoria Police to postpone its annual Disaster Recovery Test. These major disruptions rest squarely on DXC’s shoulders.”

“This vital infrastructure cannot run without the workforce, and it’s time DXC treated these tech professionals with the respect and fair pay they deserve.”

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