Tax office workers strike
BY CHRIS SLEE
MELBOURNE — Unionists at the Australian Taxation Office struck and picketed their offices on May 11 in support of a demand for a better agency agreement.
The workers, mostly members of the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU), have also imposed work bans which affect the issuing of Australian Business Numbers and the hours of operation of call centres.
At Box Hill tax office, numbers on the picket line had risen to 300 people by 10am; 75 had picketing at Waymouth and 60 at Moonee Ponds by the same time.
While pickets at other tax offices were smaller, participation in the strike was high throughout the country. In Brisbane, CPSU members picketed tax offices in the city, Mount Gravatt and Chermside.
A union delegate at the Mount Gravatt picket estimated that 50-60% of workers in his office had stayed away and told Green Left Weekly "We are likely to see all-out strikes by the time of the GST start date" if no satisfactory offer is received.
The workers say they want a better deal on pay and conditions. Management is only offering a 4% per year pay rise, conditional on achieving a large number of performance targets for revenue collection, service standards, "professionalism" (as measured by surveys of taxpayers) and successful implementation of the GST.
CPSU members have rejected the offer because, even if all targets are met (which is very unlikely), the offer fails to guarantee real wage increases given the likely rate of inflation and increased interest rates.
While the CPSU has rejected the deal, the leadership of the Australian Services Union has supported it, which has angered many ASU members, some of whom joined the strike and pickets. ASU tax section secretary Jeff Lapidos was given a hard time at membership meetings in Casselden Place and Moonee Ponds.