Together delegates across the public service looked at the industrial landscape of 2022 and saw an opportunity. A majority of Together members, across Health, Education, TMR, Tafe & WorkCover, were due to renegotiate their EBs, along with many other union members - nurses, teachers, police officers, fire fighters, teacher aides, cleaners and more.

At the same time, everyone was feeling the pinch of the rising cost of living. A 2.5% wages increase would simply not keep up with everything else.

Delegates saw a rare opportunity for all unions to come together to make a real difference to the state government's wages policy. Discussions across the Queensland union movement for a combined union campaign began.

On the 20th April, delegates from across Transport and Main Roads met to work through their members' issues in the lead up to their bargaining.

Members reported that wages were their top priority in 2022, and strongly endorsed being part of a joint union campaign for a fair wage increase.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics released the official consumer price index for the March quarter on 27 April.

The official inflation rate in Australia had risen to 5.1% and 6% in Brisbane.  The ABS does not calculate a figure for Queensland

In the lead up to Labour Day, Together members joined online briefings about a potential combined public sector unions campaign on wages. 

On Labour Day, members pledged to be part of the Wages Matter campaign. Members from across the public service are having their say and getting involved!

On the 16th & 17th May, members from across the Department of Education met to endorse a plan for their collective bargaining campaign.

The #1 issue for members in this round of bargaining is wages. Members strongly endorsed a combined union campaign to improve the current wages policy so workers in Education don't go backwards.

Members also heard from Centre for Future Work Director Dr. Jim Stanford about the importance of wage increases - not just for public servants, but for workers - and the economy! - generally.

On the 24th May, delegates from WorkCover met to talk about their log of claims for this round of bargaining and get a briefing on the Wages Matter campaign from Secretary Alex Scott. 

WorkCover delegates know the importance of not going backwards in these times of increased costs of living, and are backing in the Wages Matter campaign as part of their 2022 planning.

On 30th & 31st May, delegates from across all parts of Health met to talk about their plans for 2022 to deliver better wages and conditions for members.

Delegates heard from Centre for Future Work Director Dr. Jim Stanford about the importance of strong public service wage outcomes not just for public servants but for all workers. 

Members in Health have strongly supported the Wages Matter campaign as part of their bargaining.

In the two weeks leading up to the state budget, Together members and officials attended QNMU campaign events and supported the combined union pledge for a fair wage increase. These occurred at major metropolitan and regional hospitals including the RBWH, Children's, The Prince Charles Hospital, the PA hospital, Hervey Bay Hospital and Maryborough Hospital.

Together Branch Secretary, Alex Scott, continued to raise the profile of the campaign through the media. The focus of this media engagement was to build pressure on the government to address the cost of living crisis facing Queensland public sector workers in light of the government's wages policy of 2.5%.

The Queensland Council of Unions co-ordinated a joint union protest to coincide with the state budget.  The protest was planned for 1 William Street on budget day, June 21st.  Together members from across the CBD were to attend the rally in support of a fair wage increase.  The protest was also to be attended by representatives of UWU, the QNMU, the QTU, and the UFU.  Following a last minute break through in negotiations in relation to the wages policy, unions agreed to call off the protest so members could consider the developments.

Thousands of Together members came together for face-to-face and online report back meetings on the Wages Matter campaign and a briefing on the revised government wages policy.  The meetings occurred in hospitals and schools across Queensland as well as Zoom meetings for members in DTMR, TAFE and Workcover.  At the meetings, members heard from Together Branch Secretary Alex Scott on the possible changes to the government's wages policy.

Together delegates from across the public sector have met to consider where to next in the campaign.

Delegates have determined that members should consider the proposed revised government's wages policy.

Given the school holidays, Together delegates have determined that any consultation process should occur across all areas of the Together membership in bargaining this year, and commence in the week after school holidays end.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics released the official consumer price index for the June quarter on 27 July.

The official inflation rate in Australia had risen to 6.1% and 7.3% in Brisbane.  The ABS does not calculate a figure for Queensland

Recently, union members were surveyed to determine whether they would support a campaign that prioritises lower paid workers receiving a wage increase that addresses cost-of-living pressures – the results of that survey showed overwhelming support for this.

The current Wages Matter campaign will now be focusing on individual collective bargaining negotiations rather than further improvements to the government wages policy.