On Thursday 8 May the ASU held further discussions with the company about your EBA. At this meeting the ASU provided further detail about our claims and further detail was sought from the company in relation to theirs.
There were constructive discussions around many of our claims including;
- Better provisions for converting casuals to permanent within a shorter period of time and part time to full time conversions
- Provisions to ensure that vacant higher duties roles are filled permanently
- Receiving higher duties payments whilst on sick or annual leave if you’re acting for a block of time
- A fair and equitable process for the distribution of annual leave
- A more reflective classification structure
- A buddy allowance and a more auditable and stringent training programme to ensure employees are properly trained to do their job safely.
What the company wants
The main areas of concern for the company are around workforce mix, they want to ensure they have the right mix of full time, part time and casual and the implementation of the new workforce planning system for rostering.
We have requested detailed information from the company about what they say the ideal mix would look like in each location and have asked for this to be qualified with demand planning charts and draft rosters so that we can clearly understand how future rosters and the work force mix may look.
In addition the company also has other claims on the table for discussion, they are;
- Monthly pays
- 3 hour call in’s (including full timers)
- Rostered hours over 4 weeks to average 160 hours for full timers instead of 40 hours per week
- Split shifts
- Less sick leave for new starters
- Less annual leave for new starters
The ASU has also requested that the company provide information and statistics around the number of weeks of annual leave that is accrued on average per person as well as the average number of sick leave days that are taken on average per person.
We have requested this information because the company has made claims about wanting to reduce available sick leave for new starters and wanting to reduce the amount of annual leave that it has on its books. We have therefore asked them to justify their claims by providing the relevant information.
What’s next?
The ASU made it very clear that we were not interested in trading away terms and conditions. We believe that the company can save money and get back on track by working smarter and rostering better amongst other things, not by targeting hard won terms and conditions of employees.
The next meeting with the company has been scheduled for 5 June 2014.
It’s time to get on board?
The ASU has shown that it delivers and works openly with members to get the best possible outcomes for you. If you are not yet a member of the ASU you are being carried by the rest of your workmates who are contributing through membership to get better pay and conditions.
It’s time to stop being carried on the backs of your workmates and to join the union. The more people that are members, the stronger we are and the better the result.
JOIN NOW– You can join the ASU online at www.asu.asn.au/asujoin
For more information speak with your Delegates
Darren Grant, Frank Lonigro, Pedro Costa