Public servants at Canberra's Parliament House have voted to put their wage dispute into the faces of the nation's politicians with strike action on Capital Hill.
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But the keenly anticipated first parliamentary session after the long winter break, which begins on Monday, will be spared disruption, the workplace union confirmed on Thursday.
Department of Parliamentary Services workers will need several weeks to get organised, according to the CPSU, and it will be well into September before any action is taken.
But when the bureaucrats' action does get underway, unsuspecting MPs, senators, staffers, lobbyists and even tourists might find themselves on the receiving end of a union-scripted rundown of the public servants' beef with their bosses.
There will also be uniform bans, bans on performing certain workplace duties and most damaging, stop work actions of up to 24 hours.
The department has not yet made a pay offer, but enterprise bargaining talks already underway have indicated that management will be looking for "productivity offsets" based on those that are fuelling industrial strife elsewhere in the Australian Public Service.
CPSU National President Alistair Waters was unapologetic in the wake of the vote for the tactic of going directly after politicians and their staffers.
"DPS workers are literally bringing the concerns of thousands of public sector workers home to our politicians – this action will be taking place within the walls of the Australian Parliament House with direct engagement with politicians and their staff," Mr Waters said.
Meantime public servants at the Infrastructure Department have voted overwhelmingly to reject a wages and conditions proposal from their bosses.
The result is a shock loss for the government's public sector bargaining policy in a department with low union membership and which is understood to have never before rejected an enterprise agreement proposal.
More than 77 per cent of the 1200-strong department staff voted in the ballot, with 29 per cent voting yes and 71 per cent rejecting the deal, which offered a 1.5 per cent wage rise over three years tied to "productivity offsets".
Departmental Secretary Mike Mrdak broke the news to his workers on Thursday morning, saying the department would now go back to the drawing board and begin meeting again with union delegates and other bargaining representatives.Nine enterprise agreements have now been voted up under the government's bargaining policy at agencies including Treasury, the Australian Public Service Commission, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau and Communications.
Most of the agreements that have been accepted have contained pay rises at or near 4.5 per cent over three years.
But big challenges remain, with none of the large service delivery agencies such as the Australian Tax Office or Department of Human Services, where many of the of the public service's "front-line" staff work, having reached an agreement.
A poll of more than 7000 DHS public servants, taken by the Community and Public Sector Union, has indicated widespread opposition to the 1.5 per cent deal, with proposed cuts to conditions and entitlements fuelling the discontent.
