APS-wide negotiations will revisit the key issue of pay in bargaining talks tomorrow, after members of the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) voted down the initial offer.

In addition to the headline pay rise, the CPSU has been pushing for:

• a more ambitious approach to APS pay equity,
• backpay where employees face a delay in receiving any new pay rise, and
• a common pay rise date which brings Agencies and Departments into line with each other.

The CPSU will then take time to educate and consult members on the negotiated package ahead of running a member poll that will determine the union’s position on the overall package.

The consultation period and the ballot will each run for approximately two weeks.

The first offer that was tabled by the APSC included an unambitious pay equity mechanism and an APS-wide pay offer of 10.5% over three years: 4% in the first year, 3.5% in the second year and 3% in the third year.

A huge 86% of the 15,000 CPSU members who voted in the ballot, voted against the initial pay offer.

Quotes attributable to Melissa Donnelly, CPSU National Secretary:

“Following strong reactions from union members to the first pay proposals that were put forward, the APSC will be revisiting pay in negotiations this week.

“After negotiations tomorrow, we’ll take time to engage extensively with members across the APS on the detail of the package that has been negotiated, including on the pay offer, the pay equity mechanism, working conditions, and employee rights.

“The offer that is tabled tomorrow needs to be about more than pay – it must be about rebuilding the APS.

“The former Coalition Government froze wages, banned improvements to conditions and aggressively capped staffing numbers. Consequently, wages and conditions fell drastically behind what is on offer in the private sector and now APS workplaces are struggling to recruit and retain staff.

“Our members want to see improvements to their pay packets so that their salaries can start to catch up with the cost of living. But they also want to see those improvements so that their workplaces aren’t riddled with ongoing vacancies and unsafe workloads.

“After a decade of damage to the public service, significant progress can and must be made in this round of bargaining.

Media contact: Tori McGregor 0429 000 620