CPSU members in Services Australia to take 'strategic' industrial action over APS-wide pay deal

Since May, service-wide bargaining has been deadlocked on pay, with the main public sector union rejecting the Australian Public Service Commission's offer of a 10.5 per cent increase over three years.

The union has urged an increase of 20 per cent, calling it "ambitious", while Public Service Minister Katy Gallagher has labelled it "impossible".

Services Australia members will implement a ban on entering auxiliary codes, used by management to track the tasks staff are undertaking.

The union says it will "wreak havoc" on management's system of monitoring staff and collecting data, but have no impact on the broader public accessing government services.

"It's strategic industrial action, not aimed at customers but aimed at sending a clear message to government," national secretary Melissa Donnelly said.

"We think it's really important that the government listens to this message and we see a better pay offer."

The Public Service Commission has declined to comment on whether there will be a revised pay deal.

"Whether there will be a revised pay offer is a matter subject to the bargaining process and government deliberation," a spokesperson said on Monday.

"In the event the government decides to table a revised pay offer, advice will be shared with bargaining parties and APS employees at the appropriate time."

But the union has not ruled out work stoppages if its message goes unheard.

The more than 5000 Services Australia staff who voted on protected action were also strongly supportive of more aggressive action.

The ballot, finalised on July 3, drew votes from 5654 of 9931 CPSU members in the agency.

It returned majority support for protected action in the form of auxiliary code bans (93 per cent), unlimited work stoppages for periods up to one hour (93 per cent), and unlimited work stoppages for periods between one and 24 hours (88 per cent).

"We sought the protected action ballots, so we had these options if we needed them to make sure we got a good outcome for members, and our members will decide as we go through the next steps of the bargaining process about if and how we use those," Ms Donnelly said.

Service-wide talks between the commission, unions, agencies and employees began in March after the Albanese government reintroduced the process as part of its APS reform agenda.

Decades of agency-level bargaining has left smaller agencies behind, complicating movement between agencies and Machinery of Government changes.

The union is also calling on the government to improve a proposal to address pay fragmentation which would reduce average fragmentation from 26 per cent to 18 per cent.

Minimum salaries proposed by the Public Service Commission across APS ranks are still "unacceptably low", Ms Donnelly has said.

READ MORE:

Members also want assurances that pay increases will be delivered on time, with backpay where required.

Ms Donnelly did not say what pay offer the union would accept, given Senator Gallagher has previously ruled out the 20 per cent claim due to budget pressures.

"Those questions will be ones that our members will decide as we go through the bargaining process."

In a statement, she said the Albanese government "was elected on a platform of getting wages moving but pay proposals to date are falling short of this commitment".

"This government made a commitment to its own workforce and if they are serious about getting wages moving and about rebuilding the APS, then it's time for them to step up and fulfill that commitment."

The Public Service Commission will now miss its own deadline to finalise a set of common conditions, pushing back a second stage of bargaining to be undertaken by individual agencies.

The commission had previously said it would aim to conclude talks by July 31, but a spokesperson last week said a further two meetings had been scheduled for August 15 and August 24.

"APS-wide bargaining has made significant progress over the past three months, with the Chief Negotiator [Peter Riordan] considering and hearing over 1500 claims on pay and conditions across over 90 categories," the spokesperson said.

"Most matters have been discussed multiple times to develop principles to underpin common clauses for all APS enterprise agreements.

"This significant progress will see many common conditions move forward to the next phase of the process.

"The chief negotiator will take time away from the bargaining table after August 1 to work through how best to settle the final package of pay and conditions."

But Senator Gallagher expects most enterprise agreements will be operational by early 2024, and some by the end of 2023, the spokesperson added.

We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say. Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on The Canberra Times website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. See our moderation policy here.