Hero cops who have worked through the coronavirus pandemic will get a one-off $1,250 bonus and two weeks extra leave – but only in one state
- Queensland cops will get a one-off $1250 bonus and two weeks extra leave
- The Queensland Police Union struck up the deal for its members on Thursday
- The deal comes despite the Palaszczuk Government’s 12-month wage freeze
- The union said the extra two weeks’ leave would be classified as ‘COVID-19 leave’
Police officers in Queensland will get a one-off $1250 bonus and two weeks extra leave for going ‘above and beyond’ during the pandemic.
The Queensland Police Union struck up the deal with the state government on Thursday after ‘thorough negotiations and discussions’.
‘As we all are only too aware, police and all members of the QPU are the ones on the frontline during this pandemic,’ Queensland Police Union president Ian Leavers wrote to members, the Courier Mail reported.
‘We are the ones working on the borders. We are the ones doing the compliance. We are the ones keeping the public safe.
The Queensland Police Union struck up the deal for its members on Thursday after ‘thorough negotiations and discussions’, costing taxpayers $14-15 million
The deal, which will cost taxpayers $14-15 million, comes despite the Palaszczuk Government’s 12-month wage freeze for all public servants
‘The QPU has secured recognition from the government of just how much we are going above and beyond to keep Queensland safe.
The deal, which will cost taxpayers $14-15 million, comes despite the Palaszczuk Government’s 12-month wage freeze for all public servants.
Queensland’s 12,000 police officers and 45,000 teachers were legally entitled to a pay rise in July.
The Queensland Police Union last year signed three-year agreements with the government to secure 2.5 per cent wage increases each year.
But in April Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said all pay rises for public servants would be put on hold after COVID-19 devastated the state economy.
Mr Leavers said the two weeks of extra leave would be classified as ‘COVID-19 leave,’ with the $1250 payment to be deposited into members’ accounts in coming weeks.
Mr Leavers said the state government also supported the Union’s proposal for presumptive legislation for those with post traumatic stress disorder.
In April Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said all pay rises for public servants would be put on hold after COVID-19 devastated the state economy
The proposal means police officers with PTSD would be eligible to claim workers’ compensation without having to prove their illness is work-related.
In March, prior to coronavirus being declared a pandemic, 107,000 government workers including teachers and nurses had already been paid one-off $1250 bonuses worth more than $130million.
Thursday’s deal comes amid a wage dispute between New South Wales public sector workers and the NSW government.
The proposed 12-month wage freeze for NSW police, teachers and nurses is aimed at saving about $3billion, which would be reinvested in public projects – creating up to 20,000 jobs.
Late last month the industrial umpire ruled NSW public sector workers aren’t guaranteed a 2.5 per cent pay rise under Premier Gladys Berejiklian’s wages policy.
Frontline workers were instead offered a $1,000 bonus to help sweeten the deal which would block their 2.5 per cent pay rise.
The union said the two weeks of extra leave would be classified as ‘COVID-19 leave,’ with the $1250 payment to be deposited into members’ accounts in coming weeks