Frustrated GSOs vote to march on ACT Parliament, unions flag industrial action

An extraordinary meeting of GSOs has voted to step up action in support of their push for decent pay, with a march on parliament scheduled for December 1 and industrial action now formally flagged by the CFMEU and United Workers Union. The extraordinary meeting of GSO leaders in Dickson today resolved that "the wages of GSOs, BSOs and CSOs are not high enough for the cost of living in Canberra. This meeting calls upon the ACT Government to keep their promise to pay wages that are decent and fair… If there is no reasonable offer of a pay rise this meeting calls upon the CFMEU and UWU to commence the industrial action process." GSOs are ACT public sector employees who supply physical labour, trades, and technical skills to the nation's capital. They are currently on salaries as low as $50,925. CFMEU ACT secretary Zach Smith 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 a 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." UWU Director of Property Services Lyndal Ryan 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."