Hardworking frontline public servants are still out in the cold on pay negotiations to bring them in line with other Australian states and territories.
Shadow Minister for Public Employment said the turnout at today’s strikes in Alice Springs and Darwin were a sign that the public service had been let down by the Fyles Labor government.
“The pay freeze may have lifted but for the Territory’s frontline workers like nurses, teachers and corrections staff, the winter of discontent is yet to thaw,” he said.
“We know teachers have already crossed the tipping point and made the decision to leave the Northern Territory, and while ever our hospitals are slipping in and out of Code Yellows, nurses and other front line workers will make the same plans.
“The Fyles government was warned before the last school holidays that teachers would be weighing up their options and choosing whether to stay and hope for the best or opt for the certainty of pay and conditions being offered interstate.
“In the absence of genuine negotiations and the political will to reach an agreement, that decision has already been made by some of our teachers.”
Mr Yan said Teachers Union NT’s Michelle Ayers was bleak about the future of our schools on radio yesterday.
“I have spoken to a school principal in the last week who said that he’s unable to get people through his door for next year.”
“There are teachers who are burnt out, tired and frustrated, who want to go and yell and scream at the government. And at this point, I don’t blame them”
“If we do not have an agreement by the end of the term, it is going to be detrimental to our education system because, as I said, principals are already struggling to get people through the door.”
Mr Yan said it came as no surprise that frontline public servants had called today’s industrial action.
“To then hear the Minister for Public Employment Paul Kirby say to the crowd of hundreds in Darwin that it wasn’t his fault and there was nothing he could do, was a slap in the face to all public servants,” he said.
“Labor is using teachers and the public service as a scapegoat for their own poor economic management.
“While Labor is busy virtue signalling and wasteful projects to win over the Green vote, the CLP is committed to getting real outcomes for Territorians and creating a better future for all.
“We are calling on Labor to negotiate in good faith and give our teachers the certainty they need to deliver a quality education for Territory children.”
ENDS