Hundreds of teachers, nurses and other public servants have walked off the job in the Northern Territory over the government’s two per cent pay rise offer.

November 17, 2022

Public servants have walked off the job in their hundreds in the Northern Territory over a government pay offer.

Workers in Darwin stopped work for four hours, with many attending a rally in searing heat outside Parliament House in Darwin on Thursday.

They are protesting the NT Labor government’s two per cent annual wage increase offer for public-sector workers and say it’s not enough

Unions NT acting president Jengis Osman told the group increasing workers’ wages would be an investment in the public service and the education and health sectors.

“It’s not easy to take a few hours off work and lose pay when you’re fighting for a pay increase,” he said.

“If we’re not being paid adequately and we don’t have enough staff to run those services then those services start to crumble.”

Workers, including firefighters and utility workers, also took protected industrial action in Alice Springs, with corrections officers stopping work for 12 hours.

The unpopular pay offer was made in October when the Fyles government backflipped on its 2020 four-year pay freeze wages policy.

“Overwhelming numbers of angry public sector workers sent a clear message to the government that they will continue walking off the job, will continue rallying and staying united until they are offered a real wage increase,” Unions NT Secretary Erina Early told AAP.

She said the Fyles government needed to listen to its firies, nurses, teachers, corrections officers, power and water workers.

“These workers have the collective power to change and bring a government to its knees,” she said.

“It’s time to listen before it is too late.”

Chief Minister Natasha Fyles said work on enterprise bargaining agreements was underway and she respected workers’ right to take protected industrial action during the negotiations.

“We have a new wages policy which the lump-sum payment approaches and provides a compounding pay rise for public servants,” she said in a statement.

Ms Fyles said the government was trying to strike a balance between providing workers with fair wages growth and managing the NT’s budget, which remains deeply in the red.

“We continue to work with unions through this process, and to ensure minimal disruption to Territorians,” she said.

NT teachers, firefighters and correctional officers have taken industrial action and protested on multiple occasions over the past six months.