BoM staff messages dry up
There are claims this week that Bureau of Meteorology workers are being gagged.
BoM staff have been calling attention to a their years-long pay freeze in social media posts, using #5yearpayfreeze, #SupportUs and #BoMonStrike in weather updates.
But posts featuring these tags have been removed from the bureau's official website and social media channels.
The Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) says BoM management has imposed “’additional quality control’, requiring an additional level of checks before forecasts are transmitted”.
The CPSU said live radio crosses have stopped in some areas after weather forecasters announced they would read an authorised statement to let the public know about the situation.
The BoM says forecasts must not be compromised, but the CPSU's Beth Vincent-Pietsch told the ABC that the industrial action is approved and lawful.
“They don't want our members adding hashtags about BoM on strike to any of the web updates or the tweets that are going out even though it has been approved by Fair Work as protected industrial action,” she said.
The bureau says staff have been presented with a new Enterprise Agreement ahead of a formal vote on June 22.
Ms Vincent-Pietsch said staff “overwhelmingly rejected management's substandard offers” and were, “left with no choice but to seek public support to resolve this protracted industrial dispute”.
“We don't have any extraordinary claims on the table,” she said.
“Members would just like to be able to keep all of the allowances they've currently got, all of the conditions and all of the rights that they've currently got in return for a fair pay rise,” she said.