Leaders from among Canberra’s general service officers (GSOs) will gather today in Dickson for an extraordinary meeting to decide on if and how they will escalate their dispute with the ACT Government.

GSOs are ACT public sector employees who supply physical labour, trades, and technical skills to the nation’s capital, such as cleaning or construction; union leaders say they are currently on salaries as low as $50,925. Workers say this is not enough to afford to live in the ACT, where the cost of housing and other essentials is high.

In September, 300 general service officers held a two-hour strike outside the ACT Government offices in Dickson, calling for the government to immediately raise their pay.

Labor MLA Michael Pettersson, who took part in the strike, said at the time that the workers’ pay was “completely inadequate for their long hours and hard physical labour”. A spokesperson said the ACT Government was “committed to reducing inequality in our community, and in our public service, by actively lifting up some of our lowest paid staff”.

• CFMEU calls for higher wages for ACT’s lowest-paid workers (15 September)

Workers, however, say they are frustrated by the ACT Government’s reluctance to respond to their concerns, and will hold the meeting to decide how to advance their claim from here.

Zach Smith, secretary of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) ACT, and Lyndal Ryan, United Workers Union (UWU) Director of Property Services, said their unions were behind the GSOs in their push.

“Without the quiet efforts of GSOs Canberra would be a stinking, chaotic mess,” Mr Smith said. “For the ACT Government to pay them less than the cost of living is, frankly, unconscionable.

“They clean our public bathrooms, mow our lawns, maintain our parks and streets, and plenty more. They do it in all kinds of weather. And yet we’ve let them become the working poor of Canberra. No wonder they’re fed up.

“The ACT Government has spoken receptively about their push for higher pay, but the fact is nothing has been done yet. So the CFMEU will absolutely back these workers to the hilt if they decide to escalate their action tomorrow.”

Ms Ryan said the UWU was also committed to the campaign for higher pay.

“These workers kept our city and schools clean and functional all throughout the worst of the pandemic while the rest of us were sheltering at home.  Their work enabled children to go back to school safely,” Ms Ryan said.

“They perform some of our most vital tasks, and yet some have been reduced to sleeping in their cars because they can’t afford a home in the city they look after.

“We’ve been encouraged by the ACT Government’s words to date, but words don’t put food on the table. Our union will stand shoulder to shoulder with these workers and the CFMEU on any action decided through this meeting.”