Union hits back at Abetz strikes claim

The public service union has hit back at federal government claims it is exaggerating popular support for strikes over pay negotiations.

Employment Minister Eric Abetz on Thursday seized on analysis of union ballots in 11 workplaces, showing fewer than one in five public servants is in favour of industrial action over a government pay offer.

He noted most public servants were not union members and were therefore not asked while most of those who were did not vote or voted against strike action.

The Community and Public Sector Union should stop exaggerating support for industrial action, abandon its 12.5 per cent wage claim and stop standing between public servants and the entirely responsible wage rises on offer, Senator Abetz said.

But the union's national secretary Nadine Flood said almost 10,000 workers had joined its ranks in the past year and in those agencies taking industrial action, union membership was more than half the workforce.

"The reasonable agreements Minister Abetz is pushing are actually much harsher than those offered by any major private sector employer," she said in a statement.