Cook goes back to basics for new WA public sector pay policy

The increased bargaining flexibility could mean some government workforces receive much higher pay bumps than their colleagues in other departments.

Industrial Relations Minister Simone McGurk, who is about two weeks into the job after the resignation of former minister Bill Johnston, said the new policy was not about pitting public sector workers against each other.

“The reason people are employed in our public sector is that there’s a job that needs to be done, some of those jobs are more frontline, they’re more visible, they’re important … but there are a lot of people whose work is just as important,” she said.

“Those people are not seen and we want them to feel valued as well so we’ll be taking all those things into account in the way that we negotiate around in this round of bargaining.”

McGurk also flagged sweeteners for the state’s regional workforce.

“I think it would be fair to say that we have an open mind about how to best attract and retain workers into our regions, understanding that there’s a lot of competition for skilled staff at the moment across the board,” she said.

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The chief union for public sector workers welcomed the return of bargaining but said it must result in genuine wage increases that kept up with high inflation and cost of living pressures.

The CPSU/CSA has called for wage increases of 7 per cent and 5 per cent over the next two years “to repair the damage of years of low wage growth under suppressive government policies”.

“Critical WA public services ranging from child protection to environmental regulation are losing skilled, dedicated workers to other sectors and failing to attract new staff to fill vacant positions as a result of uncompetitive wages. This hurts our communities and our economy,” branch secretary Rikki Hendon said.