While some Canberrans will be sympathetic to the push by CFMEU members employed as general service officers by the ACT government to go on strike to achieve a 12 per cent pay rise over three years, others, already chronically dissatisfied with the state of the territory's sports grounds, road verges, roads and litter collection, won't be.
They would argue that any pay rise should be linked to demonstrated productivity gains and that the argument that the nine per cent increase over three years on offer is below the rate of inflation ignores the fact workers have just come off a "catch-up" agreement that lifted the base rate for the lowest paid from $51,000 to $68,000 (not including penalties and shift allowances).
Any decision by the workers to go on strike over the difference of 1 per cent a year between the 9 per cent over three years the government is offering and the 12 per cent the ACT CFMEU is demanding would likely provoke a backlash among people whose weekly rubbish collections, weekend sports engagement and general amenity would suffer as a result.
It should be noted that in addition to the pay offer, the ACT government has already agreed to remove the cap on family, domestic and sexual violence leave, double the entitlement to paid Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ceremonial leave and reproductive leave to 10 days, and provide new leave entitlements for parents who experience pregnancy loss.
Individuals employed to carry out similar duties by private employers, contractors and labour-hire firms would also likely raise their eyebrows.
As of July 1, the minimum wage increases to $52,254.80 a year, up from the current $49,296 a year.
The CFMEU's justification for the strike threat rings slightly hollow at a time when Canberrans are demanding a significantly higher degree of government austerity as the territory debt rises and the costs of projects such as the light rail to Woden are expected to increase.
The union has said the government had repeatedly rebuffed the workers' reasonable requests in enterprise bargaining and that industrial action could halt "road maintenance, litter collection, sports ground maintenance, park mowing and maintenance of ACT government facilities".
Reading between the lines, it would appear the threat, which does not put a timeline on possible industrial action, is a bargaining ploy designed to make the government blink. That might be optimistic given the Barr government has remained resolute in the face of recent strike action by teachers.
It is to be hoped the dispute can be resolved without a further denial of services.
