PSA accepts enterprise bargaining deal
By Trish Corcoran
ADELAIDE — A mass meeting of the South Australian Public Service Association, held on August 26, voted to accept a package proposed by the state government.
The package included an across the board enterprise bargaining framework which provides no pay increase.
The government proposal came in response to a 6% wage claim by the union. That claim was made 15 months ago, according to PSA president Jan McMahon. It has taken this long for the government to make a response that does not include any pay rise.
Peter Christopher spoke on behalf of the PSA Council in proposing its recommendation to the meeting. His analysis was that the government package was a "lousy offer".
However, the council recommendation was to accept the enterprise bargaining framework.
There was some discussion about the fact that this offer includes protection of working conditions, and is a lot better than the situation for workers in Victoria and Western Australia. However, Jan McMahon made the point that the working conditions are not guaranteed, but will have to be bargained and negotiated.
There was quite a bit of discussion from the floor about the proposal. Members seemed to have some concern and reservations about accepting a "lousy deal". Some of the comments referred to the fact that it would have the effect of dividing workers when we should be uniting against attacks.
Even those who spoke in favour of the recommendation stated that they were not happy with the proposal, but it was a situation of having to deal with a lousy offer.