The optics of a public service, relatively unscathed by the pandemic, receiving a pay rise were always going to be a tough pill for many to swallow.
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Unemployment is at an all-time high and the country is experiencing its first recession in nearly three decades. There's a sense among Australians that having stable work, let alone getting a pay rise, during this time is a luxury many haven't been lucky enough to hold onto.
As the Australian Public Service reviews a recent removal of the 2 per cent pay rise cap, threatening to lower future wage growth, ACT garbage collectors are striking for a salary increase of up to 12 per cent over the next three years.
The two scenarios are very different, but the issue at their core is the role of public service and its worth in the face of a health crisis.
Public-sector wages have maintained marginally higher growth than those of the private sector over the last two decades, according to a 2019 parliamentary research paper.
Between 2013 and 2018, public-sector wages grew by about 2.5 per cent compared to 2.1 per cent in the private sector during that period.
The paper refers to research by academics Tess Hardy and Andrew Stewart, who argue lowering wage growth in the public sector will have a negative flow-on effect.
It suggests lower wage growth for the public sector could result in even lower percentages for the private sector, a fate few in either sector would argue is beneficial.
It's also important to remember pay rises come with positive flow-on effects for the economy, according to Community and Public Sector Union national secretary Melissa Donnelly, especially now when they are needed most.
"At a time when the government should be helping workers spend in their local communities, it is effectively cutting wages and the pay rises on offer in the public sector," she says.
But Professor Andrew Podger, a public policy professor at the Australian National University and former senior public servant, explains the wage growth question is more complicated than simply everyone getting a pay rise.
Instead, he recommends the Australian Public Service Commission, which deals with APS remuneration, undertake a market analysis to overhaul public service pay.
"We don't actually know whether the pay for each person at each level doing a particular job is actually right," Professor Podger says.
"What we do know is that people doing the same job are being paid different pay in different places."
There are two levels of bargaining agreements within the APS - service-wide policies that apply broadly and department- or agency-level policies.
It has meant pay in some departments varies substantially from others. This was highlighted after employees from the former Indigenous Affairs department, on an older bargaining agreement, were merged into Prime Minister and Cabinet, resulting in pay inconsistencies.
Professor Podger suggests the wage analysis would help figure out who needs a pay rises and who doesn't.
"[The idea that] just because they're low [outside of the public sector] ... they ought to be low in the public service, doesn't hold if we haven't got the public service pay right in the first place," Professor Podger says.
"I think the argument for an increase in the public service [wage] is very weak at the moment but there may well be one if you did a market study - some might need to go up and some ... might be too high."
John Egan, a remuneration expert who has worked across the public and private sector, offers a wildly different view on how pay rises could be considered.
"I think for the public sector to be able to generate significant increases for the basic APS levels - not the executive levels and not the Senior Executive Service - they're probably going to have to demonstrate increased productivity," Mr Egan says.
Mr Egan says he believes there are a lot in the APS who "work bloody hard" but the "fluffy" performance mechanisms used aren't as ruthless as they should be.
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Professionals Australia ACT director Dale Beasley thinks the removal of the pay rise cap has left employees with even less control over their work's worth.
"Wage rises should be linked to productivity," Mr Beasley says.
"By linking public-sector wages to private-sector wages, you remove that connection and wages are no longer in public-sector workers' control."
The wage growth problem is not helped by caps on staffing levels, which result in agencies hiring external contractors and running up bills into the millions.
Removing the staffing level cap, Ms Donnelly argues, would lead to greater efficiency and more job opportunities.
"They could invest in more regional jobs and better service delivery - improving services and job opportunities for Australians," Ms Donnelly says.
What's clear right now for Mr Beasley is the changes do little to fix the systemic issues at play. Instead, he believes they'll cement a damning legacy for years to come.
"In five years, we will look back on the public-sector wages policies of this government and see the effect across the entire economy," Mr Beasley says.
"It will lock in the government's legacy as the great wage-killing government of the modern era."
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