“Good Work, Decent Wages” – A case study of the 2009 Pay Equity Campaign in Queensland’s community services sector

Abstract

Background: In 2009 the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission (the QIRC) arbitrated a wage 'dispute' in the non-government not-for-profit community services sector (the community services sector). The union's (the Queensland Services Union, [QSU]) arguments in the dispute were predicated on the argument that the work performed in the community services sector had been historically undervalued because of the gendered nature of the work and workforce, and used a 'pay equity' clause of Queensland's Industrial Relations Act 1999 that provided a remedy to address unequal pay where the work performed was of equal or comparable value to other work. Ultimately, the QSU and employers agreed on the main points of the case, disputing only the quantum of the proposed wage increase. The QIRC awarded wage increases of between 18 and 38 per cent, concluding that gender was central to the work value of the community service sector, and that the work had been undervalued because of gender. As much of the community services sector is funded by government grants and contracts; employers, peaks and unions collaborated on parallel campaigns led by the QSU and the Queensland Council of Social Service (QCOSS) for increased government funding to support the wage increases, both during and after the conclusion of the industrial case (QCOSS 2009). In the 2009 budget the Queensland Government provided $414 million over four years in supplemental funding to Queensland Government funded community services organisations to assist them meet the additional wage costs -the largest single line item in the Queensland Government's budget at the height of the Global Financial Crisis of 2008-2010. Aim: This project aims to explore the factors that led to the policy and industrial outcomes of the 2009 Pay Equity campaign led by Queensland's non-government, not-for-profit community services sector (community services sector) unions, employers and peak bodies. The primary research question is: what contributed to the policy and industrial outcomes of improved wages to workers and funding to non-government organisations arising from the 2009 Pay Equity campaign in Queensland's Community Services Sector? Methods: This project uses a qualitative, intrinsic case study methodology to explore the case and campaign. It uses Kingdon's Multiple Streams Approach to agenda setting and Sabatier's Advocacy Coalition Framework as conceptual frameworks. The data collection occurred in stages: firstly, a purposive sample of relevant documents held by key actors in the case and Financial Support