The health workers’ unions of Queensland have rallied at Chermside to highlight the unresolved pay problems, and demand more recognition for the extra work and expertise involved in running the new payroll system.
About 30 staff from the department’s payroll office in Cairns joined hundreds of colleagues in a state-wide protest yesterday demanding compensation for having to bear the brunt of the crisis, which has rolled on for 18 months. The State Government has spent $90 million trying to fix the department’s failed payroll system, which has left some workers without pay for months, and others repeatedly underpaid.
A report by the auditor-general into the Government’s IT systems earlier this week found the payroll problem had improved, but Queensland Public Service Union regional organizer Kevin O’Sullivan said the problem was far from fixed. “These people are working extra hours because of the sheer amount of mistakes being made by the system. The system has to be fixed manually. These people actually have to go into the system and find out where the error occurred and that takes hours and hours.”
Australian Services Union Central and Southern Queensland assistant secretary Kevin Place said behind the scenes Queensland Health payroll workers were suffering, trying to cope with the ongoing pay issues. He said, “They have had to skill up above their job classification and pay bracket as they deal with co-workers' chronic pay problems, and a pay system that's yet to enter the 21st century. Experience tells us that we need many more full time permanent workers for Queensland Health payroll.”
QPSU assistant general secretary Kate Flanders said the issue wasn't just about pay packets for Queensland Health workers. “It's about the employer's responsibility to the workers as well as to the Queenslanders who rely on these integrated public services each and every day,” she said.
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