This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

Public servants in the Department of Human Services, which covers Medicare, Centrelink and child support workers, have overwhelmingly voted in favour of taking industrial action over a pay dispute with the federal government.

The protected action would take place within a month, and could take several forms, including stop-work action lasting up to 24 hours at a time. Other options include passing on authorised messages relating to the industrial action to customers and clients, and changing work hours and break times.

Eighty per cent of eligible union members voted in the ballot and 95% of them supported taking action over a pay rise offer of less than 1% in exchange for the loss of a number of entitlements.

“This is a wake-up call for Mr Abbott and senator Eric Abetz: you can’t treat your staff like this and get away with it,” national secretary of the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) Nadine Flood said.

“Like the [defence forces], working mums at Centrelink and Medicare are being asked to cop cuts to leave and other rights as well as a lowball pay offer. Unlike the military, though, they can and are doing something about it, by sending a clear message to government that they are prepared to take it to the next level.”

The minister assisting the prime minister on the public service, Eric Abetz, said the pay rise that the unions want is untenable in the current fiscal environment.

“The CPSU should abandon its irresponsible claim for a 12% wage rise, which is simply not affordable and, if granted, would cost the jobs of 10,000 public servants”, Abetz said.

“It is concerning that the CPSU’s irresponsible industrial action threatens to disrupt Centrelink and Medicare services to millions of Australia in the lead-up to Christmas.”

Flood said the industrial action is intended to get the government to up its offer.

“The target here is the government, not the community. Minister Abetz’s extravagant claims that we will be hitting Centrelink payments in the run-up to Christmas are just plain wrong, the CPSU has never said anything of the kind. Our member’s actions won’t hit payments that families, pensioners and others rely on but they will show the government we mean business,” Flood said.

She signalled that the union is open to negotiation.

“If the government is serious about finding a sensible solution then there’s still time to sit down and hammer out fair and reasonable agreements before we get to more serious industrial action. We repeat the call that Senator Abetz should sit down and discuss the problems caused by the government’s bargaining policy with the CPSU.”

The Department of Veterans’ Affairs will this month hold a ballot on whether its staff members should also take industrial action over a pay dispute.

It follows on from a 1.5% pay offer made to defence force personnel, which foreshadowed tough public sector negotiations.

“We’re going to see restraint across the whole of the public sector and I would be very surprised if anyone in the commonwealth public sector receives more than is received by our defence forces,” prime minister Tony Abbott said earlier this month.