Support Qld SACS workers to get the equal pay rates they’ve earned

On 1 October 2011, thousands of Queensland Social and Community Services (SACS) workers were expecting to receive the pay equity wage rates they won back in 2009. SACS workers at employers already paying the pay equity wage rates were expecting this entitlement to be finally protected by law. Instead, the Federal Government repealed the Regulation which was to enshrine the pay equity wage rates, leaving SACS workers in the lurch. The ASU is asking members and supporters to urge the Federal Government to reconsider and live up to their commitments.

>>> Click here to send an email to the Federal Government urging them
>>> to protect and fund pay equity for Qld SACS workers

On 1 October, a Commonwealth Regulation to protect the pay equity entitlements won by Queensland SACS workers through their union the ASU, should have become legally enforceable. Although some SACS employers in Queensland are paying the pay equity wage rates, many are not. However, after the Coalition moved a motion to disallow the regulation, the Federal Labor Government withdrew the Regulation without going to a vote of the Senate. This was just eight days before the Regulation was due to take effect.

We understand that the Coalition and the Federal Government took this position after being heavily lobbied by a very small number of Queensland employers and the Queensland Community Services Employers Association.

SACS workers who had been relying on the Regulation to finally receive their fair pay rates as determined by the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission are now facing more delays and uncertainty. To add insult to injury, the Regulation was repealed at the eleventh hour.

In delaying making a Regulation, the Government is trying to hide from the fact that the "crisis" the SACS sector faces from equitable wages is entirely within the Government's power to fix - through fair and appropriate funding. Staffing and service levels do not have to suffer if the Governments meet their obligations.

The Federal Government has denied many Queensland ASU members a long overdue pay rise, thrown the SACS sector in Queensland into greater uncertainty and once again avoided increasing its funding to the SACS sector for wages.

We must let the Government know that this is unacceptable, that SACS workers need their entitlements protected and that it is time for the Federal Government to stop paying lip service to equal pay and to PAY UP. We also need to tell the Coalition that Equal Pay is important and the Regulation must be made.

>>> Click here to send an email to the Federal Government urging them
>>> to protect and fund pay equity for Qld SACS workers

All ASU members in SACS should be outraged by the Federal Government's failure to fund the Queensland Pay Equity decision. What does this lack of political will mean for funding for our national Equal Remuneration Case?