Today Victorian ASU Officials, Delegates and rostering committee representatives met with Qantas to try to settle issues associated with the company’s decision to change shift work rosters in Melbourne for the last 4 months of the operation at the Camberwell call centre.
Based on feedback from ASU members to date, the ASU sought to resolve the compensation payable to members facing reduced penalties and weekend shifts as the highest priority issue.
The issues that the ASU sought to resolve today were:
- Compensation being based on the difference between the current roster and proposed roster so members are not out of pocket;
- Compensation payable to all full time and part time staff on the multi shift roster, as well as Shift Supervisors on the General and Premium rosters;
- No disadvantage in relation to Superannuation payments;
- No delay in the implementation of the new roster planned for 11 March.
We are pleased to report that all of the issues raised above have been agreed to the satisfaction of your ASU reps. Compensation will be paid in the form of a payroll adjustment fortnightly so that it is treated as part of your normal salary. There will be no disadvantage in respect to superannuation payments for individual staff.
The company has only agreed to these arrangements provided that the 0700 – 0000 roster option is implemented. We have indicated to Qantas that there may be a small number of staff who face genuine hardship with the new span of hours and shift patterns – for example those with caring responsibilities. Any examples of this will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis and union members will get the full support of their union to try to come up with an alternative arrangement.
The ASU has also agreed that shift swaps will not form part of the compensation calculation.
Whilst the principles of the agreement are simple the implementation of this arrangement is more complex because of a number of factors including:
- The existing time and attendance system at Tele Sales;
- The Qantas payroll arrears system means that penalties are received in the pay period after they are worked;
- The fact that we will be changing (in the case of the multi shift rosters) from a 22 line to a 16 line roster.
For clarity this is how Qantas has described the order that payroll will process pays for shift workers at Melbourne Telephone Sales:
- Base Pay (actual shifts worked, plus any annual leave or sick leave)
- Shift penalties will be paid in arrears as per normal payroll process
- A shift adjustment payment representing the difference between the current 22 line shift roster (24/7 multi) and the projected base roster (0700 – 0000)
We think these commitments will ensure that the financial impact of the decision to significantly change shift work arrangements will be mitigated. Of course if you have any feedback or concerns please let the ASU know.
Finally there has been correspondence from Qantas to the ASU regarding some of the outstanding redundancy and redeployment matters. There has been some progress in relation to gaining employment in other Qantas subsidiaries with an option to take leave without pay from Qantas Airways Limited.
However, it’s fair to say the ASU is not impressed that the Qantas policy has changed in relation to how long you have to wait to re-apply for a position in the Qantas group following a redundancy. Initially Qantas advised staff in writing that a 6 month waiting period was required. Then they changed the policy company-wide in November to 2 years and failed to notify anyone. They now say the ASU/Qantas EBA will be applied – this requires a 12 month waiting period.
They have also refused to extend LSL trips on staff travel. Qantas say that staff will have 3 months to book a LSL trip and a further 3 months in which to take the trip at the same on-load category.
You can read the letter from Qantas here.
Again please do not hesitate to give your ASU Delegates or Organisers your feedback in relation to any of these issues.