Relationships Australia EBA Campaign

Relationships Australia Offer: Only 2% Pay Rise

Details

Published on Friday, 04 September, 2009

Your Enterprise Agreement negotiators met on 13 August for the first time. Relationships Australia Management and the ASU exchanged claims.

ASU Representatives were disappointed to see such a low offer of 2% per annum proposed by RA Management. (The NSW State Wage case has delivered a 2.8% pay increase this year and the sector nationally is averaging 4.5%).

Few Improvements on Offer from Management:
Management has bought very little to the table, indicating that major IT costs will restrict spending on staff.
There are only three benefits on offer by management:
•    Removal of the cap of 100 days on sick leave (has to be changed under the Fair Work Act)
•    Increasing paid parental leave to 8 weeks but absorbing these 8 weeks into the Federal Government’s new scheme in 2011.
•    Capacity to use the $450 Wellbeing Program for purposes other than counselling (e.g gym and yoga classes) up to $200. But no increase in the overall amount, which has remained the same since 2002.
The government’s new Fair Work Act requires certain minimum standards are met through the new National Employment Standards (NES). Relationships Australia has to comply with these standards just like every other employer. The NES requires RA to:
•    Remove the Cap on Personal/Carers Leave
•    Provide Unpaid parental leave of up to 2 years (instead of one year)
•    Allow Parents the right to request flexible work arrangements
Proposals that may Disadvantage you:
Relationships Australia is proposing to make the following additional changes that may disadvantage you:
•    Annual leave - restricting the ability to accumulate more than 40 days.
•    TIL – Separation of the TIL/Flexitime clause and restriction to maximum of 7.5 hours.
•    Removal of Productivity Measures from the agreement.

Remember… the ASU Claim is:
1.    Pay rise of 6% per annum over the life of the Agreement;
2.    Maintenance of current above award margin;
3.    Conversion of casuals to permanent workers after 6 months in line with industry standards;
4.    Reduction of the Span of Hours to 8am to 6pm and the removal of Saturday’s from the span ;
5.    Workload issues – comprehensive analysis of staffing levels and work load levels required;
6.    Overtime in line with industry standards (payment made after 4 weeks of not being able to take TIL, not 8 weeks)
7.    Review of classification structure and placement of positions within classification structure;
8.    Removal of current requirement to undertake work outside of core working hours or
1.    compensation for work required;
9.    Automatic increments in line with industry standards;
10.    Support for the establishment of a state-wide portable long service leave scheme;
11.    Commitment to passing on any increased rates of pay won through an Equal Pay case;
12.    Paid parental leave and the federal government’s new scheme – retention of RA’s current paid parental leave provision and extension of the government scheme in the areas of superannuation & base wage rates.

The ASU and RA have agreed to respond to each other proposals in writing by 3 September.

What next?
1.    We need your feedback.
2.    Make sure your ASU workplace representative participates in a telephone hook-up will occur on Tuesday 25th August 2009 at 10.00am.
3.    Workplace meetings will be set up wherever possible – contact your ASU workplace rep or Harvey Purse to have a meeting to discuss these issues.
4.    Join the union if you haven’t already! Your Union is your expert voice at the bargaining table. You can be represented in bargaining by the ASU, but you need to join the Union to be represented by the ASU. You can download a form at www.asumembers.org.au.

Contact Harvey Purse at the ASU Office by email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or phone 02 9310 4000