Western Australian public sector agencies will be closed by rolling stoppages if the state Labor government fails to deliver a significantly improved pay offer before the expiry of the current collective agreement on February 25.
This was the decision of a 2000-strong Community and Public Sector Union-Civil Service Association stop-work meeting, held at the Perth Convention Centre on February 20. CPSU-CSA members have lodged a claim with the WA government of an increase of 23% over three years, as well as an increase in superannuation contributions up to 13% for employees with a long period of service.
The government responded to the union's claim last December with an offer of an 11.5% pay increase over three years. No additional offer was made in relation to superannuation contributions, despite WA public servants receiving an employer contribution of only 9%. Federal public servants receive a 15.4% employer super contribution.
The government's offer was rejected unanimously by the stop-work meeting, as was the government's refusal to backdate any pay offer.
The CPSU-CSA has launched a media campaign in support of their claim, focussing on the failure of the government to attract and retain professional staff at a time when the WA economy is booming and demand for services continues to increase. CPSU-CSA state secretary Toni Walkington told the meeting that the government offer was "shameful", and that poor wages were driving workers from the public service into the private sector.
CPSU-CSA assistant secretary Jo Gaines reported that workers in regional and remote areas had been hardest hit by the rising cost of living associated with WA's mining boom. "District allowances have not been reviewed since 1968", she said. While many lower level staff do not get access to government housing, rents in some WA mining towns had risen from $300 per week to $600-700 per week.
Gaines reported that the WA government was seeking to increase hours of work for its public servants and remove the entitlements of staff in licensing centres to a nine-day fortnight. The government's offer also seeks to reduce access to personal leave for caring purposes.
A union delegate from the Disability Services Commission told the meeting that her agency is now trying to get existing permanent staff, working full-time hours, to work additional hours on casual contracts, because it could not attract qualified staff from outside the public sector to fill 190 carer vacancies. The casual contracts offered only level 1 wages for staff to provide direct care to disabled clients.
The meeting was also told that staff shortages had left 1800 children at risk, due to a shortage of child protection caseworkers. In addition, free dental care for children is under threat, because of a lack of government dental technicians.
WA public school teachers are also set to commence an industrial campaign in support of their wage claim after rejecting a government pay offer of 13.5% over four years.
Australian Bureau of Statistics data released on February 20 shows private sector wages in WA grew 6.4% in the last financial year, while public sector wages grew only 4.3%.
[Nick Everett is a CPSU-CSA workplace delegate in the Department of Consumer and Employment Protection.]