- by Richard Titelius
- The Guardian
- Issue #2109
On 4 July 2024, about 400 State Public servants walked out to attend a rally at the Supreme Court Gardens in Perth in the first of three actions by members of the Community and Public Sector Union/Civil Service Association (CPSU/CSA) to escalate demands for better pay and conditions.
There has been no movement on their claim for a 12 per cent pay rise over two years and improvements in conditions including regional allowances and superannuation contributions plus a trial for a four-day work week.
The government instead had offered a three-year deal amounting to 11.75 per cent, less than offers made to the State School Teachers Unions and the Rail, Bus and Tram Union. Both these unions only got improved offers after they took industrial action; the teachers with a half day strike and the RBTU with a big rally outside the Perth Train Station and a campaign of not checking tickets.
Mel Bray, Assistant Secretary of the CPSU/CSA addressed the rally to say the government is not coming to the table on wages and conditions and members needed to take industrial action to force the government to make a better offer. Public servants have received austerity level improvements under the previous Liberal government which were continued by the Mark McGown Labor government.
Now, Bray said, is the time with the budget in surplus, to offer better wages to address cost of living concerns and stop the haemorrhaging of staff leaving the public sector for private sector workplaces with more competitive wages and conditions. The trial of a four-day working week would help improve staff retention and was popular with members especially in the middle to upper levels of the public service.
Lawyer Alex Miller from the State Solicitors Office said one of the conditions needed to retain good staff in the public sector was to increase parental leave for both parents from the current 18 weeks to 26 weeks. In Germany parental leave is currently up to 12 months for either or both parents up to when the child is 3 years old. Alex added that the offer on wages from the Labor government of Premier Roger Cook would not be sufficient to meet cost of living pressures being felt by many union members.
Delegate Kasey Truesdale from the Water Corporation is a union representative on the union’s bargaining team negotiating with the government on wages and conditions. Truesdale said the current position of the government on the negotiations for an improvement in their wages, failed to acknowledge the economic hardship being felt by members.
The slow movement in wages of CPSU/CSA members was not matched by the movements in salaries of the most senior public servants who had been awarded an increase of up to 20 per cent over two years. Truesdale concluded, “When is the government going to listen. I am deeply and utterly exhausted. How long till the government responds appropriately to improvements in our wages and conditions.”
Assistant Secretary Mel Bray added that there would be further lunchtime actions.
The Communist Party of Australia supports the industrial campaign by the CPSU/CSA for an appropriate response from the Cook Labor government on their claim for increases in their wages and conditions to meet cost of living pressures and challenges in attracting and retaining staff.
