PSA forces Audit Office to pay up

The PSA has stared down attempts by the Audit Office to cut pay and conditions.

The Audit Office had successfully argued before the Industrial Relations Commission to be separated from the main pay case proceedings and were of the view that the Government’s wages policy did not require them to grant a 2.5% increase without trade-offs.

Instead, it believed that it could propose a rise of up to 2.5%.

Accordingly, it offered a 2.5% increase, minus the super rise of 0.25%, on the condition that contract hours of work were increased from 35 to 37.5 a week.

If successful, this approach would have set a terrible precedent for wage bargaining right across the public sector.

The PSA vigorously opposed this position.

As a result of our efforts, the Audit Office have advised it will not be pursuing an increase in hours and will instead pay the interim wage rise in line with other Government Departments backdated to 1 July 2013.