THE industrial relations floodgates have opened on West Australian Premier Colin Barnett after he capitulated to the state nurses union.
After offering a 12.75 per cent wage rise over three years and having that rejected by Australian Nurses Federation (ANF) members amid work bans and strike threats, Mr Barnett offered a last-minute compromise on Sunday.
His offer of 14 per cent was well short of the union's demand for 20 per cent, but still won over most members, leaving them set to be Australia's highest paid nurses and midwives.
The Liberal leader said he'd had little choice but to put something better on the table, saying he had been advised by WA chief medical officer Gary Geelhoed that patient's lives would definitely be at risk.
But it's the fact he let it get down to the wire that's drawn criticism.
He had insisting early last week that nothing could be done during the caretaker period, before clarifying an in-principle agreement could be reached, just not signed until after the March 9 poll.
No sooner had Mr Barnett told reporters he hoped the matter wouldn't set a precedent for other unions, than the WA Prison Officers Union (WAPOU) warned it might lob another IR grenade into the election campaign in a bid to secure higher pay.
WAPOU said it had not planned to take industrial action while politicians were on the hustings, but the nurses issue had suggested "the only pathway to a fair pay offer is industrial action" and that the state government "only listens to unions who threaten strike action".
Members will meet on Wednesday to plan their campaign.
Meanwhile, the Maritime Union of Australia has kicked off its week-long state conference, while the State School Teachers' Union of WA has "condemned" Mr Barnett's refusal to not sign up to Prime Minister Julia Gillard's Gonski reforms, labelling his stance "a disgrace".
He could take some solace, however, from the absence of any strike threat in the teachers' union statement.
Separately, a social media war erupted between the two major parties over a Liberal radio advertisement that claimed the opposition's airport rail line, part of its $3.8 billion Metronet project, would finish its journey 1.5km from the terminal.
WA Labor state secretary Simon Mead said the claim was incorrect because the rail line would transport passengers directly to the integrated domestic and international Perth Airport, due for completion in 2021.
Mr Mead's letter, addressed to a radio station, warned the media company it was party to the Liberal's misleading and deceptive advertisement, calling for it to be immediately pulled from the airwaves as it violated part of the Trade Practices Act 1974.
But the Liberals' state secretary Ben Morton said that act had been superseded.
"If Labor are going to pull these types of stunts, they should really cite acts of parliament that actually exist," Mr Morton said.
"They have no credibility."
The Liberals also referred to a tweet by opposition transport spokesman Ken Travers, in which he referred to "an internal people mover" - "maybe a rubbed wheeled tram" - to get passengers to the terminal.
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