Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) members in the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, and Meat Inspectors and On Plant Vets within the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, are now able to take protected industrial action after the union successfully ran Protected Action Ballots in both workplaces.

In the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, 87% of members voted in the ballot, and members voted overwhelmingly in support of both actions:

• 86% voted to take an unlimited number of stoppages of work for periods of up to and including 1 hour.
• 80% voted to take an unlimited number of stoppages of work for periods of more than 1 hour and up to and including 24 hours.

In the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries where the Meat Inspectors and On Plants Vets were participating in a Protected Action Ballot, 86.28% of members voted in the ballot, and members voted overwhelmingly in support of both actions:

• 91.79% voted to take an unlimited number of stoppages of work for periods of up to and including 1 hour.
• 87.69% voted to take an unlimited number of stoppages of work for periods of more than 1 hour and up to and including 24 hours.
• 88.72% voted to take an unlimited number of bans or limitations on working outside standard hours.
• 85.64% voted to take an unlimited number of bans or limitations on performing overtime.

The increased threat of action comes after the union rejected the Government’s revised pay offer of 11.2% over three years.

Union members are now considering their next steps.

Quotes attributable to Melissa Donnelly, CPSU National Secretary:

“Our union came to the bargaining table with a pay claim that was front loaded because our members were telling us that the cost-of-living crisis was biting now.

“Unsurprisingly, the Government’s revised pay offer which did not take on board this message from union members, failed to garner clear support from APS employees.

“We are urging the government to do better on pay because their workforce needs financial relief, and they need it now.

“We must not allow the bargaining process to delay workers getting their pay rise or having access to the raft of new conditions that have been negotiated.

“There is a clear fix here for the government.