General service officers (GSOs), some of the ACT’s lowest paid public servants, will march on the ACT Legislative Assembly next month if the ACT Government does not meet their demands for increased pay, while unions will take industrial action.

The decision was made at an extraordinary meeting of GSOs on Wednesday, outside the ACT Government offices in Dickson.

It resolved that the wages of general service officers (public sector employees who supply physical labour, trades, and technical skills, such as cleaning or construction); casual building service officers (BSOs); and cleaning services officers (CSOs) are not high enough for the cost of living in Canberra. Union leaders say GSOs are on salaries as low as $50,925 a year.

• GSO leaders to decide on action against ACT Government (2 November)
• CFMEU calls for higher wages for ACT’s lowest-paid workers (15 September)

The meeting followed a two-hour strike outside the Dickson offices in September, calling for the government to immediately raise pay for GSOs. A spokesperson said then that 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”.

This week’s meeting called upon the ACT Government “to keep their promise to pay wages that are decent and fair”.

The march on parliament is scheduled for December 1, and the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) ACT and the United Workers Union (UWU) have formally flagged industrial action “if there is no reasonable offer of a pay rise”.

The ACT Government is preparing an Enterprise Bargaining Agreement (EBA) offer for the majority of the ACT public servants, including GSOs, BSOs, and CSOs.

“We know that the cost of living issues being experienced right now are having the greatest impact on those with lower incomes,” a government spokesperson said.

“We look forward to constructive engagement with employees and their union representatives over the coming weeks.”

Zach Smith, secretary of the CFMEU ACT, said his union would back the GSOs in their push for fairness.

“These workers are frustrated and ready to fight, and our union will back them every step of the way,” Mr Smith said.

“The ACT Government has said all the right things. They acknowledge the current rates of pay are too low. They acknowledge the work these women and men do is vital. They acknowledge we should not have a class of ‘working poor’ in Canberra.

“But acknowledgement doesn’t put food on the table. So, if we don’t get the result we need by December 1, we’ll be marching on parliament. And if we don’t get a reasonable offer after that, then every single industrial action option is on the table.

“You can’t ask workers to clean and maintain a city they can’t afford to live in. I hope this doesn’t have to be a big fight, but if that’s what it takes, then that’s what it takes.”

Lyndal Ryan, UWU Director of Property Services, said her union would also back the workers.

“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. Our union will stand shoulder to shoulder with these workers, and we will fight alongside the CFMEU to ensure they get what they deserve.”