Public servants at the Department of Veterans Affairs have been asked to accept a pay deal of 0.6 per cent per year.
But the proposal, worth less than $9 a week to a typical DVA staffer, comes with strings; a longer working day, a cull of the department's middle management ranks and slower progression up the career ladder.
There could be another 1 per cent on the table, but only if 'business enabling operations' are met and there is a marked reduction in the amount of personal carers' leave taken in the department.
Veterans' Affairs' offer of 1.75 per cent over three years, is conditional on 57 of the department's 440 executive level officers being shown the door.
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The pay offer is worth about $8.80 a week over the life of the agreement to a public servant on the basic APS 6 classification, the department's largest cohort.
There has been restlessness brewing in the department since last year with staff voting overwhelmingly for low-level industrial action to try to force management to make an offer.
Now the department has shown its hand, the main workplace union, the CPSU predicts the proposal is doomed to be rejected.
"This offer doesn't add up," the union's Deputy National Secretary Rupert Evans said.
"In the first year the increase in working hours is larger than the increase in pay so effectively people are being asked to take a pay cut. "Unsurprisingly the early feedback from staff is that people are not going to vote for a pay cut."
"Under this proposal staff lose out in pay and conditions and veterans get fewer people working on their behalf.
"How is that a good deal?"
But a DVA spokeswoman said it had made a proposal that was still subject to negotiation.
"It is important to note that this is a proposal, not an offer," she said.
"Department will continue to bargain with staff representatives on the proposal and general staff consultation is currently underway.
"Once bargaining is complete, the agreement will require a formal offer to staff and a ballot.
"In line with the government's bargaining policy, pay increases must be linked to productivity measures over the life of the agreement."
It is important to note that this is a proposal, not an offer – the Department will continue to bargain with staff representatives on the proposal and general staff consultation is currently underway. Once bargaining is complete, the agreement will require a formal offer to staff and a ballot. In line with the government's bargaining policy, pay increases must be linked to productivity measures over the life of the agreement.
It is important to note that this is a proposal, not an offer – the Department will continue to bargain with staff representatives on the proposal and general staff consultation is currently underway. Once bargaining is complete, the agreement will require a formal offer to staff and a ballot. In line with the government's bargaining policy, pay increases must be linked to productivity measures over the life of the agreement.
