PS union targets Tony Burke’s department

Employees in the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations will vote on taking strike action ranging from one hour stoppages to 24 hour strikes.

Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke holds a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Martin Ollman

Employees in the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations will vote on taking strike action ranging from one hour stoppages to 24 hour strikes as the Community and Public Sector Union seeks to pressure the government to lift its public sector pay offer.

The targeting of the department that provides advice to the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations Tony Burke follows the approval of a protected action ballot of workers at the Fair Work Ombudsman and industrial action at Services Australia.

The ballot of workers at DEWR, whose role includes providing advice on enterprise bargaining and wages policy to the government follows the CPSU rejecting the government’s 11.2 per cent pay offer and sticking with its wage claim of 20 per cent over three years.

DEWR union members will be voting to participate in 2 separate actions: an unlimited number of stoppages of work up to and including 1 hour., and an unlimited number of stoppages for periods of more than 1 hour and up to and including 24 hours.

Union members in parts of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry also intend to vote on taking industrial action.

The government last month marginally increased its wage offer to 160,000 federal public servants to 11.2 per cent over three years, a rise of 0.7 per cent and well below the union claim of 20 per cent.

The proposed annual wage increases are 4 per cent from March next year, 3.8 per cent 12 months later and 3.4 per cent from March 2026.

A CPSU poll of 15,000 members found 51.9 per cent support for the offer and 48.1 per cent rejecting it, with the union saying the slim majority reflected “lukewarm support” and the government needed to increase the level of proposed wage rises.

CPSU national secretary Melissa Donnelly said service-wide bargaining was a unique opportunity for the government to negotiate a pay and conditions package that brings together a fragmented and disparate APS.

“The CPSU wants to see a package on the table that APS employees can proudly get behind, and we believe the Government want that too,” she said.

“There is a clear and simple fix here.

“The conditions package that has been negotiated contains industry-leading working from home rights, an increase to casual loading, significant improvements to paid parental leave and enhanced job security provisions.

“But APS employees have been clear in communicating that they want to see the government improve the pay offer.”