So what happened?
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6th April: Interrelate advised our ASU bargaining representatives that they had bargained as much as they could in relation to our Enterprise Agreement. A number of issues had not been addressed in our view.
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20th April: Interrelate advised members what the voting process would be when it was going to take place and provided only one extra week for members to meet.
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Staff were then advised through Skype sessions by management that any vote to reject the Agreement could lead to being placed back under the SCHADS Award. Members saw this as a not so thinly veiled threat and objected. Members also objected to ASU officials being treated differently from other bargaining reps.
The attitude of management appeared to be "this is what we are doing so tough luck".
ASU Organiser Peter Macphee wrote to Interrelate with a number of outstanding issues. You can download the letter here. It has always been the position of members that were still negotiating the Enterprise Agreement.
Interrelate responded and addressed a number of issues raised. You can see that letter here.
Does this resolve all the matters?
It certainly goes a long way towards resolving a number of issues. However, there are still a number of issues that members will have to make a decision on. These are:
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Above Award pay cut to 2% - This will effectively mean a pay freeze until July 2018
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Fixed Term contracts- Interrelate have now proposed extending this to SIX YEARS.
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Purchasing annual leave for part-time employees
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Proper consultation with employees and their representatives in the workplace
Why has this happened?
Simple. The Agreement that Interrelate have proposed is better than what was on the table before because our members have indicated they are not happy with the previous proposals.
What next?
ASU organiser Peter Macphee will be visiting your workplace again very soon to explain what the proposals mean to you. Contact Pete at [email protected] or call 9310 4000 if you have any questions or would like to arrange a visit.
Interrelate have stated that meetings can be held by bargaining reps in paid time as long as they do not interfere with the operation of the business and have been cleared by local area managers.