Tech workers at DXC Technology to strike this week amid stalled pay talks
Technology professionals at DXC Technology are taking industrial action starting Tuesday amid stalled pay negotiations, putting government and banking IT services in Australia at risk of disruption.
Professionals Australia announced on Monday that its members at DXC "overwhelmingly" voted to support strike action after more than 14 months of negotiations on their enterprise agreement.
The action will begin with a series of stoppages and work bans starting 31 March, before escalating to a 24-hour stop-work on 1 April.
The work bans will include restrictions on overtime, standby, and call-out work, and will also include stoppages on servicing customer requests and attending meetings, according to a report from the Australian Financial Review (AFR).
Employees will also ban physically attending the workplace for 72 hours.
Professionals who will be involved in the strike action include software engineers, systems engineers, software developers, infrastructure specialists, database administrators, technical consultants, information security analysts, and operational support analysts.
"Industrial action is never something these professionals take lightly," said Professionals Australia Director Paul Inglis.
"But after more than fourteen months of negotiations, workers have been left with no choice but to take action to secure a fair agreement that recognises their skills and the critical work they do."
DXC, in a statement, said the organisation respects the right of employees to participate in protected industrial action.
"We continue to bargain in good faith and look forward to finalising the new agreement," a DXC spokesperson told the AFR.
Why are DXC employees striking?
The industrial action at Professionals Australia takes its roots as early as 2023, when DXC attempted to terminate legacy enterprise agreements and push employees back onto Award minimum conditions.
"That would have left many workers tens of thousands of dollars worse off," Inglis said.
"Workers joined our union in large numbers, successfully challenged the move, and forced the company back to the bargaining table."
But negotiations have stalled, with the union saying that progress on key issues, such as wage increases, standby rates, and workplace conditions, was limited.
The union claimed that the proposed agreement from DXC did not guarantee workers wage increases despite many not receiving a pay hike in five years.
The proposal also sought to remove several existing conditions.
"Many of these workers have gone five years without a pay rise," Inglis said. "With the cost of living rising sharply over that time, they have effectively taken a massive pay cut while continuing to deliver critical technology services."
Strike's impact on employers
DXC Technology offers IT services to government agencies across Australia, including the Australian Taxation Office, the Australian Electoral Commission, and the Attorney General's Department.
It also provides services to major banks, including the ANZ, Commonwealth Bank, and Westpac.
The industrial action risks disrupting these services, including delays in IT support and issue resolution, interruptions to system upgrades and project delivery, as well as slower response times for network maintenance and infrastructure services.
"When these professionals stop work or place bans on certain tasks, it means technical problems will take longer to fix, upgrades will be delayed, and support requests will not be actioned as quickly," Inglis said.
This is the second time that DXC has faced the risk of disruption this month, after the Australian Services Union previously threatened industrial action.
The move, however, was called off after DXC offered a 30% rotating shift allowance, with negotiations ongoing, according to the AFR.
