Police Association says new pay offer won’t be put to a vote
Saturday, 9 March 2024
The Police Association says it doesn’t believe a new pay offer to members is acceptable, and won’t be putting it to a vote.
The offer includes a $5000 general wage increase from last November, and 4% increases in September 2024 and July 2025.
The association says police are being exploited because of their inability to strike.
A new pay offer to police is considered to be unacceptable and won’t even be put to a vote, Police Association president Chris Cahill says in a letter to the organisation’s members.
Negotiations had been delayed by bargaining and political processes that were “inequitable”, and had “failed to deliver the much needed financial relief many of you are desperate for”, Cahill said in the letter, which has been seen by Stuff.
“The association believes you have been taken advantage of due to your inability to take industrial action and we will be exploring how to prevent this exploitation in the future,” Cahill said.
“The association does not believe this offer will be acceptable to members and will not be putting it out for vote.”
The offer comes as the Government seeks to boost police numbers and crackdown on gangs, in line with election promises.
Association members rejected a previous offer last September.
Key points of the latest offer, which would be for a 3-year term from last July, include:
A general wage increase (GWI) of $5000 from last November, with allowances rising 5.5%.
A GWI of 4% from September 2024, with allowances up 4%; followed by a similar rise in July 2025.
Meal and incidental allowances would be replaced by reimbursement of actual and reasonable expenses discussed in advance. The association described this as a clawback.
If the third year of the new offer was removed, it was less than the offer members had overwhelmingly rejected last September, the association said.
At the start of February, Cahill said that if the Government expected police to be a crucial part of implementing its 100-day plan, it must ensure officers received their overdue recognition by way of an acceptable pay settlement within that same 100-day timeframe.
The 100 days ended on Friday.
Police Minister Mark Mitchell provided a brief response when approached for comment.
'This is a difficult situation as we deal with a tough economic environment,“ Mitchell said.
He couldn’t comment further while negotiations were under way.