Three-day stop-work begins on 1 July

ATO strike action began at midnight on 1 July as DXC Technology staff who support the Australian Taxation Office mainframe started a three-day stop-work.

Professionals Australia and the Australian Services Union represent the IT workers involved in the stoppage.

Millions of Australians start preparing tax returns on 1 July, and the ATO’s core systems face their heaviest load of the year at that point.

Workers rejected DXC’s proposed enterprise agreement by 387 votes to 137, according to Professionals Australia.

DXC workers reject latest offer

“Employees at DXC have voted down the company’s latest offer by almost three to one, with 387 voting no and 137 voting yes,” Professionals Australia CEO Sam Roberts said.

Roberts said the vote rejected an offer that cut conditions while DXC continued to make profits from the workers’ jobs.

According to the unions, the dispute follows months of bargaining in which DXC failed to deal fairly with employees.

Roberts also accused DXC of acting in bad faith during the enterprise agreement talks.

DXC recently confirmed employees had been underpaid since at least 2017.

Unions say DXC knew about the underpayments from at least 2023 but acted only after they moved to escalate the matter through the Fair Work Commission.

Roberts said DXC used strike-breakers during protected industrial action and removed clauses that workers had already agreed.

Antolin Feria, a long-time DXC employee, said the proposed agreement would sharply reduce his pay.

Feria has worked for more than 15 years in the Mainframe Team supporting ATO online systems.

“After more than 15 years in the Mainframe Team supporting the ATO online systems, the new proposed agreement is reducing my weekly standby pay by more than half,” Feria said.

Unions say that reduction will apply unless DXC reinstates key conditions in the agreement.

Roberts said the timing of the stop-work matched the opening of tax time, when ATO mainframe demand is highest.

He called on DXC to return to bargaining with what he said was a sensible offer for highly skilled professionals.

The stoppage started at 12am on 1 July and covers workers who keep ATO mainframe services running during a peak period.

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