Public servants lose $340m in frozen pay rises as union cavils

Leading candidate to take over as ACTU boss oversaw bargaining that saw public servants miss out on hundreds of millions in pay rises.

Nadine Flood National Secretary, Community and Public Sector Union. Picture: Twitter..

Public service union boss Nadine Flood — a leading candidate to replace Ged Kearney as ACTU president — oversaw bargaining negotiations that resulted in ­bureaucrats from five government departments missing out on pay increases worth $340 million.

Ms Flood yesterday defended the union’s management of the negotiations and argued the key issue was the “protection of workplace rights and conditions”.

New analysis from the Australian Public Service Commission shows bureaucrats at five of the biggest government departments missed out on wage rises valued at $343m.

The analysis — obtained by The Weekend Australian — measured the value of lost wages increases since February 2016 when the Defence Department and the Department of Human Services first knocked back a union proposal for 6 per cent pay rise over three years. While a new agreement for Defence workers came into force in August and a deal for DHS ­is expected to take effect this year, the APSC analysis suggests the Community and Public Sector Union’s rejection of these offers cost public servants millions by ­effectively freezing their pay for up to 18 months.

The APSC put the total value of the lost wages for ­Defence workers at $69m. For DHS workers it was $114m.

In December 2015, the Australian Taxation Office first rejected a proposal for a 6 per cent pay rise over three years. A new enterprise agreement did not come into force until the start of August this year. Lost wages over that period amounted to $85m, the APSC analysis suggests.

Public Service Commissioner John Lloyd told The Weekend Australian yesterday: “It is unfortunate that the CPSU and other unions’ approach to the bargaining caused such a significant delay in people receiving pay increases.

“Union assertions that the agreements voted up are materially better than the agreements originally submitted doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.”

Ms Flood told The Weekend Australian: “In three decades of enterprise bargaining, it has never taken 3½ years to resolve agreements, as it has in the ATO, Defence, DHS and most APS agencies. We view these agreements as an achievement for workers, when the toxic offers from government proposed to cut up to 65 rights and conditions, but falling well short of what hardworking staff deserve.”

The APSC analysis suggests lost wages for staff at the Department of Immigration and Border Protection amounted to $56m while at the Department of Agriculture it was $18m.

Employment Minister Michaelia Cash said: “The union has deliberately sold out the interests of its members by denying them any pay rise for over 3 years.

“CPSU members should be very disappointed in the actions of Ms Flood and are entitled to strongly question the priorities of their union’s leadership.”