The union representing the public sector including Centrelink workers and Australian Border Force Officers, the CPSU, has today condemned the move to freeze the wages of frontline government service workers for 6 months.
Communities around the country are looking to our public sector at this troubled time, more than ever before. Public sector workers are delivering for all of us, and the government is thanking them with a 6 month pay freeze.
At a time when the government is spending billions of dollars to stimulate the economy and keep people spending, it just doesn't make sense to be freezing the wages of essential workers.
The wage increase federal public sector is only 0.058% of the government budget. Freezing wages will not help the budget line, but it will affect tens of thousands family budgets around the country, and the communities in which they spend.
The CPSU is calling on the Morrison Government to immediately reverse this decision.
CPSU National Secretary Melissa Donnelly said, "There is no doubt that our members are working longer and harder than ever before, to try to meet this unprecedented surge in demand for government services. That is why it is so very disappointing that the Morrison Government's response to COVID-19 is to freeze the wages of public sector workers who are holding our community together."
"All of Australia can see that Services Australia workers are slugging their guts out in the middle of a pandemic. The ATO is helping small business accessing programs to keep their doors open and their employees paid. Across the country, our members are working to keep the nation moving."
"There are no winners in this decision, workers getting less means they will spend less in their struggling local businesses. It is not fair for the Government to reverse its decision for public sector workers who are working so hard. It just doesn't make economic sense."
