By successfully arguing they faced irregular hours on a regular basis, thousands of Queensland ambulance officers who are members of United Workers Union won a 25 per cent increase to their super
Queensland ambulance paramedics work long and irregular hours, which are often beyond their control. Ambulance officers work all hours of the day and night, and that leads to their salary often made up of substantial portions of penalty rates for shift work – or about 25 per cent of their income.
In negotiations for a new EBA, Queensland ambulance delegates mounted a sustained argument to recognise the regular nature of these irregular work patterns faced by paramedics and other ambulance staff. They successfully argued that the regular penalty rates should be recognised as ordinary time earnings for the purpose of calculating their super – leading to a massive 25 per cent boost to their super.