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Speaker 1: As I mentioned, we know that some of our correctional

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Speaker 1: officers in Alice Springs are indeed taking industrial action today

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Speaker 1: around their pay and conditions and joining me, excuse me

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Speaker 1: on the line right now is Alan Bosel, Northern Territory

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Speaker 1: correction Union member. Good morning to you.

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Speaker 2: Allan, good morning, thanks for having me.

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Speaker 1: Thanks so much for joining us. Sorry just having a

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Speaker 1: quiet cough there, Alan, tell us a little bit about

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Speaker 1: why you are taking that industrial action today.

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Speaker 2: We're taking the union action today because of the government's

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Speaker 2: wage frees for four years and a major short staff

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Speaker 2: out here at ASCC and the dangers that implies and

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Speaker 2: the risks that we take every days as prison of mate.

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Speaker 1: Tell me a little bit more about, you know, the

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Speaker 1: short staffing, particularly at the Alice Springs facility.

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Speaker 2: So you know, over the years as a prison of

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Speaker 2: a certain risk that you take every day. You don't

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Speaker 2: really know that you can do the job unless you

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Speaker 2: actually try to do the job. And we all understand

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Speaker 2: that the problem is is our attention of staff and

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Speaker 2: the department's ability to put courses on and get people

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Speaker 2: and advertise for this job. You know, at the moment

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Speaker 2: we currently stand at just under fifty officers off our roster.

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Speaker 2: So what that does is put extra pressure on all

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Speaker 2: the other officers because we're all doing so much over

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Speaker 2: time and you don't want to leave your fellow workis

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Speaker 2: short stuff in the environment that we work in.

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Speaker 1: Does it also, I mean, does it concern you in

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Speaker 1: the sense that, like those safety concerns as well, depending

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Speaker 1: on how many officers you've got on shift.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely, And you know it's something that we battle every

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Speaker 2: day and you don't really know until you come in

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Speaker 2: and yeah, it's a serious concern. And you know, to

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Speaker 2: add flavor to it, this four you wage freeze. You know,

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Speaker 2: the government just doesn't accept the risks that we take

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Speaker 2: as being a correction Losso with that.

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Speaker 1: Wage freeze, how does it then sort of compare you

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Speaker 1: guys to the way in which correctional staff are paid

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Speaker 1: in other states and territories.

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Speaker 2: Well, for a while there, I think years ago, corrections

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Speaker 2: officers here were paid a little bit higher percentages rate

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Speaker 2: than some of the other areas because they needed to

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Speaker 2: attract people to stay in such a remote place like

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Speaker 2: our springs. And now through those battles being in the

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Speaker 2: prison OFSS Association in Australia, other correctional losses have come

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Speaker 2: on to line and got paid pay rises, and Queensland

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Speaker 2: corrections have just got nearly a twenty percent pay rise.

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Speaker 2: And you know, so our brothers and sisters in other

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Speaker 2: states are getting a fair day's pay for a fair

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Speaker 2: day's work in a risky job. And everybody understands those risks.

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Speaker 2: But you know, it's got to be a balance, and

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Speaker 2: it's just unacceptable to ask people to not have a

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Speaker 2: pay rise. We've all got families, we've all got bills,

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Speaker 2: and everything increases with that. And we're not even asking

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Speaker 2: for a crazy increase. I mean, I think two point

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Speaker 2: five percent a year is a much to ask. I

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Speaker 2: think it's an insult mate.

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Speaker 1: So what needs to happen here? What do you reckon

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Speaker 1: needs to happen?

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Speaker 2: Well, first of all, the government needs to accept the

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Speaker 2: risk and accept the risk that people take for the

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Speaker 2: jobs that they do, and especially here in our springs

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Speaker 2: with all the other things that have gone on. Nobody

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Speaker 2: wants to come to our springs because of all the

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Speaker 2: things that are happened in our springs. So we don't

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Speaker 2: know all the answers, but we're always open the negotiations

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Speaker 2: and we're always wanting to talk to them, and we're

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Speaker 2: always trying to give them ideas the gun And government

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Speaker 2: needs to understand, and we just hope that they get

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Speaker 2: the message that me and my fellow officers are sending

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Speaker 2: them here today.

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Speaker 1: Well, Allan, I appreciate your time this morning, and jar

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Speaker 1: let us know how it all goes. It's going to

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Speaker 1: be interesting. I think next week, obviously we know the

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Speaker 1: Northern Territory budgets handed down exactly what gets announced, but

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Speaker 1: I think yesterday as well, finding out that those interest

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Speaker 1: rates are going up, and you know, part of the

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Speaker 1: reason for that is that there's going to be wage

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Speaker 1: increases across the board, is what it had sort of

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Speaker 1: been said when the Reserve Bank announced that, but you

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Speaker 1: know for some of our public servants that's not going

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Speaker 1: to be the case.

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Speaker 2: Well, you're right. And one of the things too, that

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Speaker 2: is an interesting thing to have a look at is

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Speaker 2: that the nt are actually on the lower scale of

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Speaker 2: all wage increases across the nation. So if that doesn't

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Speaker 2: send a message to the Gunner government, I really don't

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Speaker 2: know what does.

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Speaker 1: Well, Allan, I appreciate your time this morning. Let us

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Speaker 1: know how it all goes, mate, But thanks for having

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Speaker 1: a chat with us.

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Speaker 2: Thank you, thank you very much.

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Speaker 1: No worries,