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Tasmanian public sector unions will carry out staggered stop work actions in schools and in the public health system next week after slamming the government's latest pay offer. The government stuck to its offer of a 3 per cent pay rise for one year, while negotiations over future years continue. It also includes changes to personal leave, parental leave and pregnancy loss leave entitlements, but unions described those as "long promised" and not "anything significant". The stop work actions will take place from 9am to 11am on Tuesday in the north-west, on Wednesday in the north, and on Thursday in the south. It means public schools will be shut between those hours, which could extend to the full day if safe student arrivals cannot be arranged by the government. In addition to the Australian Education Union (AEU), other unions to take part in the stop work actions include the Health and Community Services Union (HACSU), the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU), the United Workers Union (UWU) and the United Firefighters Union (UFU). HACSU state secretary Robbie Moore said paramedics would maintain safe staffing levels during the stop work period, while there could be "inconvenience and delays" for non-urgent patients in the public health system. Government accused of cobbling together offer AEU Tasmania president David Genford described the government's offer as "cobbled together". "It's the same 3 per cent pay proposal as last time and there's still nothing to address workload, class sizes, deal with school violence, or fix the retention crisis," Mr Genford said. The government said unions had requested a 21.5 per cent pay rise over three years, including 11 per cent in one year, and described its 3 per cent offer as above inflation in Tasmania. It put the need for a one-year offer down to delays caused by the recent snap state election. CPSU Tasmania secretary Thirza White said the latest offer was unlikely to gain the support of workers. "The promise of 'we want longer' is actually just a delay tactic, and that's the frustration for our members. "We don't need more time, we need people in the room who have the authority to bargain and a government that is committed to listening and working with its workforce." The Police Association has also criticised the government's pay offer, saying Tasmanian police officers were paid 16.8 per cent less than their interstate counterparts on average. Government says union requests 'unaffordable' Mr Rockliff said the government's offer was "fair and affordable". He said on social media that the unions' pay requests were unreasonable. "The unions also want additional benefits, which will significantly add to that cost," Mr Rockliff's account wrote. "For Tasmania, that is just unaffordable." He said the unions' plans for stop work action had "forced" parents to work from home as a "negotiating tactic".
