Fair Work Ombudsman staff to consider strike for better APS pay, as CPSU ramps up pressure on federal government

The union last week announced it would knock back a service-wide pay increase of 11.2 per cent over three years for federal public servants, after a poll of about 15,000 members returned narrow support for the pay package.

National secretary Melissa Donnelly declared the results - in which 51.9 per cent supported the offer, 48.1 per cent rejected it - did not show "clear support" and the union would take steps to escalate protected industrial action.

Union members in the Fair Work Ombudsman will vote on whether to participate in three separate actions in a protected action ballot. The ballot lists options for strikes up to an hour, up to 24 hours, and the inclusion of "an authorised CPSU statement in email signatures".

The move follows the announcement of a 24-hour strike in Services Australia, to be held on October 9.

"The Albanese Labor government made a commitment to the public service prior to their election to become a model employer and to rebuild the APS after a decade of damage and destruction," Ms Donnelly said in a statement.

"The CPSU intends on holding them to that commitment."

The Australian Public Service Commission tabled its revised offer of 11.2 per cent over three years in August, after union members rejected an initial proposal of 10.5 per cent.

Ms Donnelly said protected action ballots would also be lodged for other APS agencies in the coming week.

"Union members in Services Australia and the Fair Work Ombudsman will not be the only APS employees participating in industrial action.

"It is a list that will grow as needed and we will be lodging further applications for Protected Action Ballots this week."

"We have a unique opportunity with service-wide bargaining to negotiate a package that brings together a fragmented and disparate APS. But an offer with 51 per cent support doesn't do that."

Members have embraced a package of common conditions proposed by the government, but the pay deal remains contested.

Public Service Minister Katy Gallagher last week defended the proposal as "a generous offer", pointing out majority support in the CPSU's poll.

"When you look back at what's happened over the last decade, where wage outcomes have been in the order of 1.2 per cent a year, we've significantly improved that and the package of conditions is a big improvement, too.

"So I would say we've revised it through the negotiation process, and I'm hopeful that we'll be able to reach agreement."

Senator Gallagher stopped short of calling it the government's final offer.

The government's proposal would lift salaries across 102 government agencies by 4 per cent in March 2024, 3.8 per cent March 2025, and 3.4 per cent in March 2026.

The offer is the outcome of service-wide negotiations between the Public Service Commission, unions and over 250 individual bargaining representatives. The talks, which have been underway since March, are the first of their kind since APS-wide bargaining ceased in the late 1990s.

The government has also put forward a pay equity mechanism, which would lift the salaries of some of the lowest paid agencies in the APS.

This proposal, which would set minimum salaries for each classification, would reduce pay fragmentation from 26 per cent to 13 per cent.

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.