Post by Banjo on Sept 12, 2011 16:28:37 GMT 7
More PS staff join dispute over pay deals
More than 120,000 federal bureaucrats have now rejected their workplaces' pay offers, setting up the prospect of wider strikes in coming months.
Staff at Australia's largest government agency, the Department of Human Services, voted down a proposed 3 per cent annual raise last week by a margin of three votes to one.
The newly merged department employs 40,000 public servants from Centrelink, Medicare Australia and the Child Support Agency.
The result of its ballot means 22 government agencies, with a combined staff of 121,000, are now formally in dispute with their employees.
Only 21,000 public servants have struck new wage deals since July 1, when most agreements expired.
The Community and Public Sector Union will meet Special Minister of State Gary Gray's staff today to discuss the impasse.
The union has already held stopwork meetings at the Defence Department, the Agriculture Department and at Parliament, and has ongoing bans in place against certain types of work.
National secretary Nadine Flood said yesterday the strikes could widen if her members were not offered more reasonable terms.
''Public-sector staff are not willing to accept agreements that fail to recognise the value of the work they do.
''The [Public Service Commission] is clearly unable to resolve this issue and the longer the Government leaves it, the more morale in the public service will decline. Staff are being asked to be more 'flexible' which, in practice, means that they are being asked to work weekends or inconvenient hours and get nothing in return.''
Ms Flood said her union had worked alongside many agencies to reach an agreement, only for the commission to then block it.
''The ball's now in the court of the minister and the commission, who should step out of the way and allow us to reach a deal.''
The Government warned public servants in January it would keep a tight rein on pay rises, in part to help return the federal budget to surplus.
It is also trying to simplify the widely varying conditions in existing wage deals by standardising them and, in some cases, cutting access to overtime and leave rights.
The commission has told government agencies any pay rises in excess of 3 per cent a year must be cleared by the Finance Department.
However, the Reserve Bank says the inflation rate is now 3.6 per cent a year, meaning a 3 per cent rise is effectively a pay cut.
Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens also warned last week that inflation might rise higher, saying the bank ''remains concerned about the medium-term outlook for inflation''.
Ms Flood said pay was an important reason behind most public servants' decisions to vote no, but a key issue for Centrelink and Medicare staff in last week's vote was rostering. ''[The department] wants people to have far less control of their working hours and their leave. Those issues are really important in a workforce with so many women, who need to be able to juggle work with child care and so on.''
A spokesman for Mr Gray said yesterday the Government did not oppose pay rises above 3 per cent a year, as long as they were offset by ''genuine and demonstrable productivity improvements and are affordable''.
''This is in line with government policy since 1993 ... This framework is delivering affordable and sustainable pay increases in line with the Government's budget position,'' the spokesman said.
The commission has told government agencies any pay rises in excess of 3 per cent a year must be cleared by the Finance Department.
However, the Reserve Bank says the inflation rate is now 3.6 per cent a year, meaning a 3 per cent rise is effectively a pay cut.
Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens also warned last week that inflation might rise higher, saying the bank ''remains concerned about the medium-term outlook for inflation''.
Ms Flood said pay was an important reason behind most public servants' decisions to vote no, but a key issue for Centrelink and Medicare staff in last week's vote was rostering. ''[The department] wants people to have far less control of their working hours and their leave. Those issues are really important in a workforce with so many women, who need to be able to juggle work with child care and so on.''
A spokesman for Mr Gray said yesterday the Government did not oppose pay rises above 3 per cent a year, as long as they were offset by ''genuine and demonstrable productivity improvements and are affordable''.
''This is in line with government policy since 1993 ... This framework is delivering affordable and sustainable pay increases in line with the Government's budget position,'' the spokesman said.
www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/more-ps-staff-join-dispute-over-pay-deals/2288293.aspx
More than 120,000 federal bureaucrats have now rejected their workplaces' pay offers, setting up the prospect of wider strikes in coming months.
Staff at Australia's largest government agency, the Department of Human Services, voted down a proposed 3 per cent annual raise last week by a margin of three votes to one.
The newly merged department employs 40,000 public servants from Centrelink, Medicare Australia and the Child Support Agency.
The result of its ballot means 22 government agencies, with a combined staff of 121,000, are now formally in dispute with their employees.
Only 21,000 public servants have struck new wage deals since July 1, when most agreements expired.
The Community and Public Sector Union will meet Special Minister of State Gary Gray's staff today to discuss the impasse.
The union has already held stopwork meetings at the Defence Department, the Agriculture Department and at Parliament, and has ongoing bans in place against certain types of work.
National secretary Nadine Flood said yesterday the strikes could widen if her members were not offered more reasonable terms.
''Public-sector staff are not willing to accept agreements that fail to recognise the value of the work they do.
''The [Public Service Commission] is clearly unable to resolve this issue and the longer the Government leaves it, the more morale in the public service will decline. Staff are being asked to be more 'flexible' which, in practice, means that they are being asked to work weekends or inconvenient hours and get nothing in return.''
Ms Flood said her union had worked alongside many agencies to reach an agreement, only for the commission to then block it.
''The ball's now in the court of the minister and the commission, who should step out of the way and allow us to reach a deal.''
The Government warned public servants in January it would keep a tight rein on pay rises, in part to help return the federal budget to surplus.
It is also trying to simplify the widely varying conditions in existing wage deals by standardising them and, in some cases, cutting access to overtime and leave rights.
The commission has told government agencies any pay rises in excess of 3 per cent a year must be cleared by the Finance Department.
However, the Reserve Bank says the inflation rate is now 3.6 per cent a year, meaning a 3 per cent rise is effectively a pay cut.
Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens also warned last week that inflation might rise higher, saying the bank ''remains concerned about the medium-term outlook for inflation''.
Ms Flood said pay was an important reason behind most public servants' decisions to vote no, but a key issue for Centrelink and Medicare staff in last week's vote was rostering. ''[The department] wants people to have far less control of their working hours and their leave. Those issues are really important in a workforce with so many women, who need to be able to juggle work with child care and so on.''
A spokesman for Mr Gray said yesterday the Government did not oppose pay rises above 3 per cent a year, as long as they were offset by ''genuine and demonstrable productivity improvements and are affordable''.
''This is in line with government policy since 1993 ... This framework is delivering affordable and sustainable pay increases in line with the Government's budget position,'' the spokesman said.
The commission has told government agencies any pay rises in excess of 3 per cent a year must be cleared by the Finance Department.
However, the Reserve Bank says the inflation rate is now 3.6 per cent a year, meaning a 3 per cent rise is effectively a pay cut.
Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens also warned last week that inflation might rise higher, saying the bank ''remains concerned about the medium-term outlook for inflation''.
Ms Flood said pay was an important reason behind most public servants' decisions to vote no, but a key issue for Centrelink and Medicare staff in last week's vote was rostering. ''[The department] wants people to have far less control of their working hours and their leave. Those issues are really important in a workforce with so many women, who need to be able to juggle work with child care and so on.''
A spokesman for Mr Gray said yesterday the Government did not oppose pay rises above 3 per cent a year, as long as they were offset by ''genuine and demonstrable productivity improvements and are affordable''.
''This is in line with government policy since 1993 ... This framework is delivering affordable and sustainable pay increases in line with the Government's budget position,'' the spokesman said.
www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/more-ps-staff-join-dispute-over-pay-deals/2288293.aspx