The Reserve Bank of Australia and the Finance Sector Union have reached an enterprise deal that delivers wage outcomes to staff over the next two years, beyond the Federal Government’s public sector wages policy.
Under an enterprise agreement approved by staff last week, RBA employees will receive a pay increase of at least 2.9 per cent this year.
The pay rise comprises an automatic 1.9 per cent increase to base salaries and a one-off bonus that ranges between 1 per cent and 3.5 per cent depending on the performance of individual staff.
In 2022, staff will receive an automatic 2 per cent rise in base salaries plus an incremental increase to be determined by movements in the ABS wage price index up to the end of June next year.
The deal is significant because it is one of only a handful in the Commonwealth public sector that diverges from the government’s expectation for salary increases to be tied exclusively to future movements in the wage price index.
In a memo to FSU members posted on the union’s website, national secretary Julia Angrisano said the agreement showed the RBA had moved away from the government’s wages policy.
“Our actions moved the Bank on a number of key issues,” Angrisano told FSU members in the memo.
“In particular, the Bank has agreed to move away from the Federal Government’s wage policy that locks workers into unknown pay increases over a three-year period.
“By agreeing to two years duration, with additional commitments on salary adjustments, we now have more certainty around pay over the life of this agreement.”
The RBA deal is the second public sector agreement to venture outside the government’s industrial parameters following Australia Post’s decision at the end of August to grant 3 per cent pay rises to staff over the next three years.
The RBA enterprise deal means that its staff will receive pay rises over the next two years in line with most staff employed at the major banks.
Three of the major banks – CBA, NAB and ANZ – last year agreed to 3 per cent pay rises, while Westpac guaranteed a 3.25 per cent boost for staff earning under A$90,000.
The 3 per cent benchmark has filtered through to other enterprise deals including a new agreement struck by the union with P&N Bank last week.
However, the union and Great Southern Bank are at loggerheads over a pay offer that would result in staff being guaranteed an annual pay rise of 2.25 per cent.