Qld public servants' pay rise unfair:union THE Christmas gift Queensland public servants received from the premier is good but not that great, their union says. If fact, they'd like to exchange it for something better in the New Year. The Together Union says the 2.2 per cent pay rise Premier Campbell Newman gifted them isn't really that festive because it doesn't match the one politicians received. "It's definitely a result getting workers a well-deserved pay rise before Christmas but it's not enough," assistant secretary Kate Flanders told reporters on Tuesday. The fight continues for our members. But Mr Newman says the state's 48,000 public servants wouldn't be getting a boost to their pay packets if he hadn't personally intervened in the 18-month wage battle. He says the government's efforts to give the core public service a pay rise since mid-2012 had been "stymied at every turn by the Together Union." "I'm delighted to have broken the impasse," Mr Newman said. He said the government is using a section of the Public Service Act to give "core" public servants a pay rise now, rather than having to wait up to another year for the arbitration process to be finalised. His office said the first increase will be paid by early February 2014, but it will apply to leave loading payments from December 1, 2013. Ms Flanders said the Together Union had knocked back two previous pay rise offers of 2.35 per cent and 2.2 per cent because the conditions attached to them were unfair.