The Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) was forced into compulsory arbitration in December over the primary Victorian Public Service Agreement (VPS), but continues to campaign on several other agreements.
There is still no outcome of the compulsory arbitration from the VPS, which covers 30,000 state public servants.
For agencies such as the Victorian SES, parliament and parks, enterprise bargaining agreements expired mid-last year. But negotiations were stalled because the government still insists on a cap of 2.5% a year on public sector pay rises.
The union says six arts agencies agreements are also backlogged.
Parks Victoria workers closed national and state parks on Australia Day and over Easter. They are also taking part in bans on controlled fuel reduction burns.
CPSU members working at Fulham prison as custodial and catering staff stopped work for one hour on April 13 and 16.
The prison is privately owned by GEO Group. The EBA expired last December and the CPSU is arguing for a minimum ratio of prison staff to prisoners.
Prison officers voted for several bans from April 16. They include a ban on conducting urine tests on prisoners and indefinitely locking down the prison whenever it is understaffed.
A lockdown took place on April 11 when not enough staff were rostered on. GEO stood down union members and began looking for scab prison officers from the interstate prisons of Junee, NSW and Arthur Gorrie, Queensland.
So far, GEO Group has stuck to the government line and refused to negotiate on pay rises above 2.5% or minimum staff ratios.
Parliamentary staff have also held periodic half-hour stoppages and refused to wear jackets and ties, open doors for MPs and clean rooms.
The government’s misnamed Better Services Taskforce continues to slash jobs across the public service.
In the Department of Human Services, 500 jobs have been cut, but two new Senior Executive officers have been appointed. The Department of Sustainability and Environment, a big regional employer, will sack 200 staff on fixed-term contracts. The Environmental Protection Agency will sack 16% of its workforce in contracted staff.
The Department of Business Innovation is shedding 110 jobs to fill vacancies with labour hire contractors. The Department of Justice has hired a contractor to oversee 690 job cuts. The Department of Primary Industry will also axe 400 staff.
Overall, the Baillieu Coalition government plans to cut 10% of public jobs.
Victoria's population has grown 20% in the past decade but the public sector's a third smaller than 20 years ago. The CPSU said: “The Baillieu government is punishing their workforce while failing to reign in bonuses paid to executives or the waste on labour hire, consultants and contractors.”