Services Australia facing 24-hour strike by CPSU

Union calls October 9 strike to pressure government to lift pay offer.

CPSU national secretary Melissa Donnelly.

Federal public sector employees at Services Australia are threatening to strike for 24 hours on October 9 as the Community and Public Sector Union seeks to pressure the Albanese government to increase its pay offer.

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.

It said the fair and affordable offer, if accepted, would be the largest pay increase that federal public sector employees have received in more than 10 years.

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

CPSU national secretary Mellissa Donnelly confirmed the intention to strike at Services Australia on Monday week, saying further applications for protected action ballots would be shortly lodged in other federal public sector workplaces.

Ms Donnelly said: “In an environment where every APS worker is feeling extreme cost of living pressures, the current pay offer doesn’t cut it.”

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

Ms Donnelly said the government made a commitment to the public service prior to the last federal election that it would become a model employer and rebuild the public sector after a “decade of damage and destruction”.

The union said there was strong support among members for the conditions package negotiated with the government, including the industry-leading working-from-home rights, increases to paid parental leave, the reintroduction of job security provisions and increased casual loading rates.

The Commonwealth says it considered a range of factors when determining the pay offer, including advice from the Treasury on recent wage rises across Australia, economic indicators, the current labour market and budgetary considerations.

The government says the pay offer exceeds the Wage Price Index for the June quarter of 2023.

The federal offer is also in line with recent state and territory public sector wage offers.