Tasmania’s health services union claims the State Government has spent more than $250,000 on court action to continue a long-running paramedic pay dispute.
That takes the taxpayers’ legal bill fighting against a pay rise to a total of $1.26 million, after the previous Labor state government spent more than $1 million fighting in the Industrial Relations Commission.
The current Liberal State Government has resisted implementing the 14 per cent pay rise awarded to 300 paramedics by the commission in April last year.
Premier Will Hodgman has said the pay rise was unaffordable.
The union said documents obtained under Right to Information revealed the Liberal Government had spent $260,000 continuing to litigate the case since it came to power in March last year.
Health and Community Services Union’s secretary Tim Jacobson said the Liberals paid an interstate legal firm for about eight hours of appearances in the Supreme Court.
He said that cost taxpayers about $3,300 an hour.
Mr Jacobson said the interstate firm was also hired by the Liberal State Government to negotiate a public sector pay freeze.
Unions reacted angrily in May last year when it was revealed that the former Labor state government had spent more than $1 million fighting a pay rise.
The workers took their fight for more money to the state’s Industrial Relations Commission almost two years ago.