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PESUTTO PUNISHED
Winning recipes
PAGE 9
Churchill resident and former Masterchef contestant Noelene Marchwicki has released a cookbook.The book has community front of mind, with its contents aiming to inspire people to rediscover the magic of home cooking, while book sales are going to a local not-for-profit. STORY - PAGE 19
At breaking point By TOM HAYES
MORE than 20 officers from the Traralgon Police Station and The Police Association of Victoria (TPAV) walked off the job last Wednesday (December 11), amid ongoing wage negotiations. Administered by TPAV, staged with a banner reading ‘BREAKING POINT’, officers spent 30 minutes off the job from 9am until 9.30am as part of their Protected Industrial Action (PIA). Last month, officers from across Victoria began walking off the job for the first time in 25 years. Despite being ‘off the job’, media was reminded that if police were required to attend to the public urgently, they would have returned to work. Representing the 17,000 members on the Victorian Police force, speaking outside the Traralgon Police Station was TPAV president, Sergeant Karl David. “It’s a disgrace. Pushing this matter to the Fair Work Commission is hiding from the issue,” Sergeant David said. “Tim Pallas (who announced his
resignation as state treasurer on Monday) said in an interview recently, that if he was told by the Fair Work Commission to pay a certain amount of pay rise to the police, then he would find the money to do it. We say to Tim Pallas, why wait for the Fair Work Commission? Pay us now. “Shane Patton (Victoria Police Chief Commissioner) says that in respect to unpaid work, that it was an expectation by being a police officer that you would support the community, and there would be an expectation to do a little bit of unpaid work. He called it good will. I’m saying to the chief commissioner, it’s not good will, it’s against our will.” Sergeant David complained that IT systems that are currently in place are creating more work, making “a four-hour job an eight-hour job”. “Working for Victoria Police is like skydiving with a parachute from Temu. The problem is that this employer wants us to do an extra couple of jumps in our own time, it’s unacceptable,” Sergeant David said.
Sergeant David added comparisons to the recent New South Wales Police pay dispute, saying that the NSW government and commissioner have respect for its police force. In November, it was confirmed that NSW police won pay rises of up to 40 per cent in the biggest wage increase in 30 years. The Guardian reported that “senior constables and sergeants will receive increases of at least 25 per cent before shift allowances”. “Shane Patton could fix this today,” Sergeant David reiterated. “Our members demand a fair pay rise, better conditions, including an end to unpaid work, and above all - respect.” Sergeant David once again outlined the conditions of the PIA, and the actions that Victorian police officers can perform. The first action includes not starting work 30 minutes to an hour earlier than their paid hours, in order to kit up for their shift. “Back in those days when I started, you just put on a pair of pants and a
shirt, you’d put on a pancake holster and walk out the door. It’s different today, now there is 20 kilograms of equipment, we wear firearms, we wear video recording equipment, we carry tasers, we have a ballistic vest - all of this stuff needs to be integrated, signed out, downloaded - it takes time. The job has changed,” Sergeant David said. Other actions as part of the PIA include the likes of refusal to respond to emails or phone calls outside of working hours, bans on performing voluntary duties, bargaining negotiations written on police vehicles, and an interruption to work to attend location of fixed speed or red light cameras. Victorian police officers are also encouraged to speak to media including newspapers and radio stations about their experiences under the PIA, which they are able to do for the first time. Continued - Page 2
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