Industrial disputes & news - 4 June 2025
QLD nurses & midwives; Sydney Trains; I-MED; Zinfra; QUBE; Noosa City Council; BMS; CFA; Mission Foods; SA psychologists; CPSU Vic & the annual wage review
QNMU - Public sector nurses and midwives
Public sector nurses and midwives in Queensland will commence industrial action on Thursday (5 June). More details will be disclosed at a statewide member meeting this afternoon at 4pm. Stay tuned! The QNMU shared that while the Crisafulli Government had “shifted its position on some points, the revised offer still presented too many unanswered questions, missing commitments, and continued to put conditions at risk.”
CRU & ETU NSW - Sydney Trains
On Friday (30/5) in the Fair Work Commission, the Combined Rail Unions and the NSW Government reached an in-principle agreement. The proposed agreement includes a 12% pay increase over 3 years as well as back pay. However, it’s not a done deal yet. The ETU, who split from the CRU claiming inadequate representation for its members through the multi-union alliance, are not happy with the proposed agreement. The ETU contends that Claim 145 (creating a trades-based section to maintain relativities in the classification structure) has been actively blocked by the CRU, and that the ETU didn’t receive a copy of the proposed agreement until 10 minutes before the FWC hearing on Friday. The laws that cover multi-enterprise agreements say that every union covered by the agreement must agree to the proposed agreement before it can be put to a ballot of workers, so this is not yet a done deal. The ETU remains in discussions with the NSW Government.
VAHPA - I-MED
Industrial action at I-MED continues with stoppages at Frankston, Peninsula Private and The Bays last Wednesday (28/5). More stoppages were to have taken place on Friday (30/5) and Monday (2/6) but I don’t have any details. If you’ve got any further information on this dispute - please get in touch!
AWU NSW - Zinfra
Workers at the largest gas distributor in NSW struck for 48 hours from 4am last Tuesday (27/5). 235 workers at depots in Newcastle, Bathurst, Forbes, Unanderra and Sydney walked off the job as part of their EBA campaign for 5% annual wage increases. Zinfra has only offered 3.5% increases. Management allegedly gave themselves a 7.5% wage increase last year. The action meant that no repairs, maintenance or connection hook ups occurred over the 2 days, and the AWU has warned that reliability across the network could be at risk if industrial action continues.
CFMEU QLD - QUBE
Crane operators at QUBE in Queensland have been on strike for a week after unanimously voting to strike indefinitely. The workers are fighting for market rates and a fair agreement. In one heartwarming moment, a worker found a job on Seek, only to discover it was QUBE hiring a scab labour force and he was taking the job of a striking worker. Once he worked out the situation, he left the job and headed immediately to the union picket.
AWU QLD/The Services Union - Noosa City Council
Workers at Noosa City Council have been locked out again. After talks in the QIRC on 22 May failed, unions were told by the council that any workers who continued to participate in industrial action would be subject to an unpaid lockout from 23 May - 2 June. Workers are taking the dramatic step of doorknocking and leafleting local residents to bring the community’s attention to this long running dispute. Unions are demanding the negotiations be taken out of the CEO’s hands and resolved by the mayor. While the dispute centres on pay increases, there is also mounting evidence of a toxic work environment at the Council. Another meeting will be held in the QIRC on Friday (6/6).
CFMEU Vic - BMS
Today (3/6) will be day 13 of industrial action by BMS workers at the Golden Plains Windfarm in Rokewood. According to the Concrete Gang on the 8th day of stoppages, the bosses came and locked the workers out, demanding that if they didn’t sign the proposed agreement that they should go and find another job. Action was expected to “ramp up” this week.
Correction: A reader has kindly informed me that BMS workers have not been locked out. Boss is still being a jerk though. And industrial action continues! (4 June, 1:35pm)
ASU Vic - CFA
Paid CFA staff commenced industrial action yesterday (3/6). ASU members at the CFA are stopping training, not recording fuel management data and diverting calls and emails to the bosses. All internal communications will be in RED ALL CAPS. Workers haven’t received a pay increase since 2023, and claim negotiations with management have stalled after 6 months. Management is pushing the state government’s wage policy of 3% annual increases on the workers, although apparently signed off on more than 4% for themselves last year. The industrial action is directed squarely at the bosses and should not effect volunteers or communities.
AMWU VIC - Mission Foods
Workers rallied at Mission Foods in Epping on Monday (2/6) in support of Victorian HSR of the Year Navneet Bedi. Navneet was stood down by management last week. Of course the bosses have made allegations against him, but the truth of the matter is that he has been stood down for doing his job, and representing his members. The bosses have apparently been discriminating against Navneet for some time, including hiring a supervisor to “supervise” only Navneet. I guess he was HSR of the year for a reason! Stay tuned to AMWU socials for next steps in the campaign to support Navneet.
HSU SA - Public sector psychologists
Public sector members of the South Australian Psychologists Association, a HSU sub-branch, are commencing industrial action today. SAPA has revealed that four major services — the Statewide Neuro-behavioural Units; the Brain Injury Rehabilitation Unit; the South Australian Intellectual Disability Health Service and the Eastern Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service — have no psychologists left. Yes, you read that right. ZERO psychologists left. SAPA is fighting for fair pay and conditions for public sector psychologists in SA - they are the lowest paid in the country. By improving their conditions, these services will be able to attract and retain psychologists. SAPA President Deborah McLean has said that the industrial action will “disrupt bureaucratic processes while remaining on the front line for the consumers who depend on us”
CPSU A Voice For Members - Gold Review
Rank and file election ticket “A Voice For Members” who are contesting the upcoming CPSU SPSF (Victoria) elections have hit back at the Allan Government’s review of the public service and plan to slash public sector jobs. The Silver Review, led by Helen Silver, was asked by the state government to find efficiencies and provide recommendations to reduce the size of the public service. A Voice For Members have put forward their own counterproposal — The Gold Review — which they describe as a job-focused alternative. The ballot for the CPSU election opens on 10 June and closes on 8 July.
Annual Wage Review
The ACTU may have described it as a “Union Win!” but the 3.5% increase to minimum and award wages is less than the peak body advocated for (4.5%) and only 1% more than the ceiling ACCI put in its submission (no greater than 2.5%). So perhaps, less of a union win and more a safe, straight down the middle decision? The Australia Institute described the decision as an “appropriate reward” but still noted that their research shows “the real value of award wages had fallen nearly 4% below September 2020 levels. This increase will still see award wages 1% lower than they were five years ago.” I think the analysis from RAFFWU might resonate the most with minimum wage workers: “Every cent counts for retail and fast food workers. But this increase maintains woefully low poverty rates and falls far short of what would be required to undo the damage of cost-of-living rises over the past three years.”
That’s all I’ve got this week. A bit of a rushed job this week, but I hope I can follow up on a few things for next week’s report. If there’s anything you think should be in the report - please get in touch!
In solidarity, Sarah