Fair Work Australia has ruled that Sydney Water is out of line in the way it is trying to implement new competency programs across the Corporation.

Earlier this year Sydney Water started to implement a new competency program in ‘Science and Environment’ however, rather than implementing the procedures that are contained in our new Enterprise Agreement, Sydney Water has been “doing its own thing” and bypassing members & delegates. The process being used by Sydney was a complete sham!!

Hunter Water Australia has decided to put their Enterprise Agreement out to a vote – again. They have changed very little in this version – it’s basically the exact same Agreement that was already rejected in May!

Hunter Water Australia employees have been treated like second class citizens for years, getting paid less, with less conditions than Hunter Water Corporation. Instead of finishing the negotiation in good faith to address these problems, the bosses are trying to force you to accept a bad deal by holding this year’s 4% increase and your back pay as ransom.

Don’t fall for this dirty trick. At Hunter Water Corp and at Sydney Water last year the bosses tried exactly the same move but ASU members continued fighting for a better agreement which they won AND they won their pay increase & back pay!

See this bulletin for further information.

Sydney Water forced to accept that women don’t have to clean up after others!

Administration workers at Potts Hill, all but 2 of them women, have forced Sydney Water to accept that they do not have to clean up after other members of staff. By standing together, they have pressured management who have today backed down.

The Australian Greens have issued a statement to the ASU that they oppose the privatisation of state-owned water and other essential services.

Two very interesting articles in today's Sydney Morning Herald about water issues:

The first, titled "The rocketing price of water" quotes the ASU's Sally McManus and refers to our new "Dead in the Water" report:

"...a new report produced for the Australian Council of Trade Unions said investment in water infrastructure is being dominated by two French water companies - Veolia and Suez - and the public should be wary of a growing push towards privatisation.

''This report points to numerous examples in Australia and overseas where water privatisation has been bad for workers and … the community,'' a spokeswoman for the Australian Services Union, Sally McManus, said.

The union pointed to a case being heard by the Supreme Court in South Australia, where a Veolia subsidiary won the right to operate Adelaide's urban water system in 1995 and has been accused of overcharging taxpayers tens of millions of dollars"

>> Read the entire article

The ASU has just released a new report into the dangers of water privatisation.

The paper, Dead in the Water: the dangers of water privatisation, is available for download by ASU members in our members-only area. (note that you will need to log in to access the report )

A long standing grievance between the Waste Water Treatment Operators (WWTO) and Hunter Water (HW) over Duties Statements and increasing responsibilities has come to an end.

Until now Hunter Water has been reluctant to accept that WWTO roles and responsibilities have been increasing without recognition or remuneration for the past 5 years.

In 2009 Sydney Water and the ASU were engaged in negotiations for a new disciplinary policy. These were never concluded and Sydney Water is continuing to use a disciplinary policy that was never agreed upon.

Throughout 2009 ASU members led a highly organised Enterprise Bargaining campaign and negotiated some historic wins – we fought off performance pay, we secured redundancy rights and reached a deal for a fair pay rise.

Now, after agreeing to the document and signing on the dotted line – Sydney Water is using a legal loophole to introduce a new clause that you did not agree to or vote on.