No exceptions in pay rise cap
Commerce Minister Michael Mischin insists the State Government's new wages policy is black and white and no exceptions will be made for any category of public servants - including police.
The wages policy, which applies to all industrial agreements expiring after November 1 last year, requires that all pay rises be capped at the projected Perth consumer price index, which is 2.75 per cent. It replaced the Government's previous policy, which stated that pay offers higher than CPI could be negotiated in return for productivity or work practice trade-offs.
The Government struggled to adhere to its old policy, with its overall wages bill - which included an increase in the size of the public service - growing 37 per cent, or $3 billion, in its first term as it made WA's police, teachers, doctors and nurses the highest paid in the nation.
The WA Police Union said it would not accept a 2.5 per cent a year pay rise when its agreement expired on June 30 and vowed "massive" industrial action.
