Professionals Australia members, including engineers and technical professionals employed by the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads, will undertake moderate industrial action today in pursuit of fair and equal pay. In response, the Queensland Government will attempt to withhold an entire day's pay, a move that is both disproportionate and unacceptable.
Sean Kelly, Director at Professionals Australia, said that the engineers and technical professionals at the Department are responsible for the delivery of major projects and traffic management that keeps the state functional.
Despite the crucial role they play in Queensland's infrastructure and transport, Mr Kelly said that the wages of these workers have fallen far behind those of their counterparts, often while they are working on the same projects.
"A professional at the Department of Transport and Main Roads is significantly underpaid compared to equivalent professionals right here in Queensland. They are simply asking for fair treatment. So far, the Government's only offer has been a 3% increase, which is well short of what's needed to achieve parity."
Mr Kelly said the Department workers had been left no other choice but to take industrial action.
"Our members will continue to show up to work and complete their essential work for the people of Queensland, but will not be participating in overtime they are expected to work for free anyway."
The partial industrial action includes:
- A ban on working over 36.25 hours a week
- A ban on completing accelerated training
- A ban on end-of-month activities such as accruals, forecasting, milestone updates & project commentary
- Updating of email signatures and/or autoreplies to note participation in industrial action
- A ban on submitting/approving timesheets, including contractor timesheets.
"Department of Transport and Main Road workers are paid up to 20% less than their colleagues right here in Queensland who are partnering with them to deliver the exact same projects. Despite months of good-faith bargaining, the Government has neglected to address this issue of parity."
Minister Mickelberg will take a sledgehammer response to today's moderate industrial action by the workers at the Department of Transport and Main Roads.
"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.
"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.
"We will stand up for the rights of our workers to be fairly paid for any day of work they show up to, whether that's tomorrow during the day of action or any other day. 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.
"Today's work bans action will occur from 9am."
