Services Australia staff are set to strike for 24 hours on October 9 after the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) rejected the government’s pay offer.

Further applications for protected action ballots are being lodged in other APS workplaces, the CPSU says.

The APSC put forward a revised pay rise for 11.2 per cent over three years on August 29, representing a 0.7 per cent increase from the first offer of 10.5 per cent, which had been rejected by union members.

The current offer stands at a 4 per cent increase in the first year, 3.8 per cent in the second year, and 3.4 per cent in the third year.

But it’s left the union cold, with the CPSU saying it wants 20 per cent over three years.

The union says while there’s support for the accompanying conditions package – which includes WFH rights, more paid parental leave, job security provisions and increased casual loading rates – the pay offer doesn’t stack up.

It said last week it will continue to consulting with members and delegates across a variety of APS workplaces regarding further action.

We have a unique opportunity with service-wide bargaining to negotiate a package that brings together 160,000 employees across 103 different agencies after what has been an incredibly challenging decade for public sector workers. But an offer with 51 per cent support doesn’t do that.

Melissa Donnelly

National secretary Melissa Donnelly said only 51 per cent of its members voted in support of the offer, which wasn’t in the spirit of the APS’s ability to undertake collective bargaining.

This first round of service-wide bargaining was a unique opportunity to bring all APS employees together and make significant steps forward for their pay and conditions, she said.

“We have a unique opportunity with service-wide bargaining to negotiate a package that brings together 160,000 employees across 103 different agencies after what has been an incredibly challenging decade for public sector workers. But an offer with 51 per cent support doesn’t do that,” Ms Donnelly said in a statement.

“The CPSU has rejected this offer because we know that we can and we should be aiming higher than 50 per cent, plus one.

“Our members are ready to increase pressure as needed to secure a better outcome on pay.”

Offer ‘affordable, reasonable’

Public services minister Katy Gallagher said 11.2 per cent was ‘the affordable and reasonable’ offer it could make at this point.

However the government would work with the union to reach agreement as soon as possible, she said.

“From the government’s point of view we have revised our pay offer after feedback from the union, we have worked really hard to improve the conditions and their substantial improvement to conditions in this package… so I feel like we have come to the table and put a good package on it” she told the ABC on Friday.

She said she had been hoping that given the majority vote the parties could have finalised the agreement.

“I will be certainly urging the CPSU to outline what is the pathway forward … other than having some industrial action in Services Australia, there isn’t a clear path forward about how we are going to resolve it and we need to resolve it so that people can get their pay and access improved conditions.”

The minister said she was still committed to public service reform but this couldn’t just be seen in terms enterprise agreement negotiations.