SA public servants seek pay rise

By Anthony Thirlwall and Tully Bates

ADELAIDE -- The state Liberal government has rejected wage claims by public sector unions, threatening further job losses if wages rise. It has said that departments will not be allocated money to cover pay rises. The Public Sector Association (PSA) has been negotiating a wage claim since October 1991.

The government's financial statement, released on May 31, warned public sector unions that a 1% wage rise would cost a further 700 jobs. Premier Dean Brown has called for a wages freeze for the next two years.

Labor Opposition leader Lynn Arnold claimed on June 14 that 7500 public sector jobs would go. He said that 5500 job cuts outlined earlier by the government had not included the job-shedding in “off budget” agencies like the Engineering and Water Supply Department and the Electricity Trust of South Australia.

More than 1600 public servants have accepted separation packages since the government's financial statement a month ago. The entitlements will be scaled down from August 1.

Meanwhile, state council elections within the SA PSA have seen the emergence of a coherent challenge to the incumbent leadership. The alternative team, supported by assistant secretary, Tony McHarper, calls for increased participation of job delegates and a need to return to fighting around concrete union issues. The incumbent team, endorsed by secretary Jan McMahon, has failed to mobilise the membership around dramatic job and service cuts under both Labor and Liberal governments.

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