Vic: Unions on the march

As the Victorian Government celebrates a year in office, the state's 23,000-plus public sector workers have issued a bitter birthday demand - cough up with big pay rises or face industrial strife.

Buoyed by the site of thousands of Victorian nurses last week clogging city streets to rally for better pay, a string of other unions today accused the Government of broken promises and massive cuts across the sector.

Unions represented included teachers, ambulance paramedics, child protection workers, disability workers, tertiary education workers and psychiatric workers.

And the state's nurses, seeking an 18.5 per cent pay rise over three years and eight months, were busy preparing for court action in their dispute, according to Victorian Trades Hall Council secretary Brian Boyd.

The Government's public sector wages policy is for 2.5 per cent a year plus productivity improvements.

Australian Education Union Victorian president Mary Bluett said the state police and nurses had led the way in the battle for more pay, and the police win of a 19 per cent overall increase had set the "benchmark" for other unions.

"Right across the public sector and teachers in particular have looked at the outcome for police and certainly we see that as the new benchmark and the very tough stance the nurses have taken and their support they've attracted from the Victorian community, we hope and expect that support will be forthcoming in the event teachers are forced to take industrial action," she said.

Before he was elected to office, now Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu promised the state's teachers would be the highest paid in Australia.

But his first 12 months in government have been marked by big cuts to education and pay rise offers well below the eight per cent Ms Bluett said was being offered to West Australian teachers.

Mr Boyd said the Baillieu government had cut deep right across the public sector, not just teachers.

"In one year, he has already made $2.2 billion worth of cuts to education, health care, emergency services and employment assistance for young people..." he said.

"Victorian unions will not stand by and allow the Baillieu government to tear apart our state services."