Restructures ‚Äö?Ñ?¨ THE NEVER ENDING STORY

The number of restructures and other changes that have been notified to CPSU in accordance with the consultation clause in our Certified Agreement continues to grow.

At present there are at least 6 restructures or other changes underway in WorkCover that CPSU has been notified of.

These range in size from the new WorkHealth initiative and the 222 Exhibition Street accommodation and refurbishment project, to a trial of the Aurion system for the online completion performance plans and reviews.

There are some on-going issues with restructures in various parts of WorkCover.

Some of those which have been ‚Äö?Ñ??finalised‚Äö?Ñ?? still have residual problems in regard to how new roles will be filled, reporting lines and workloads.

Clause 10 of the WorkCover Certified Agreement clearly outline the duties of management to consult with staff affected and with CPSU and FSU when there is a proposal for ‚Äö?Ñ??‚Äö?Ѭ?restructure of the workplace, the introduction of new technology or changes to existing work practices of employees‚Äö?Ѭ?‚Äö?Ñ??.

However, there have been instances where CPSU has not been notified by WorkCover management, and the appropriate consultation has only occurred when we have raised the matter.

To help ensure that your rights to be consulted and represented are enforced, whenever a proposal is raised, members should always ask management, ‚Äö?Ñ??And what is the proposed consultation process? Has the union been notified?‚Äö?Ñ??

QA and inspectors notebooks

CPSU s local executive has proposed that inspectors make their notebooks available to the relevant Group Leader (GL) for photocopying as required, while noting that this creates an extra workload for GLs and a practical problem for inspectors, who need to keep control of their notebooks.

If there are problems with how some inspectors take notes, that would be better managed by the GLs on a case by case basis.

‚Äö?Ñ??Complaints against inspectors‚Äö?Ñ?? procedure

CPSU delegates Glen Spaulding and Darren Watson, along with CPSU Industrial Officer Mick Donohoe, met with the Executive Director, WorkSafe, John Merritt, the Director of Compliance Coordination, Cath Duane, and a representative from HR, Mel Hay, to discuss the complaints procedure and to outline members concerns with it.

CPSU believes that some complaints against inspectors which may be relatively minor could be managed at the local level, and has proposed that the current system should be reviewed.

In particular, serious complaints should be handled by a trained and independent reviewer. In addition the union believes that a presumption of innocence should apply until proven otherwise ‚Äö?Ñ?¨ CPSU believes the current procedure does not presume that the inspector complained against is innocent until the complaint is proven.

The management representatives wanted time to fully consider the matters raised and suggested another meeting in which they would give their response. However they did say that they could give assurances, on the matter of confidentiality, that no complaints against inspectors, or complaints against other individual staff members, were placed on the Complaints Tracking system.

When it was pointed out that the current procedure appeared to require this, CPSU representatives were assured that this was not the practice and that the procedure would be amended to reflect this.

Certified Agreement

Have you put in your ideas for consideration for our new Certified Agreement? If you have ideas for something new, or a proposal to resolve outstanding issues in the current agreement, send them to your local delegate to go onto the list being compiled. Many thanks to those members who have submitted suggestions so far.

If you are interested in being involved in the Certified Agreement process, including helping put the draft together, negotiating, or being in the reference or support team, contact Mick Donohoe at mdonohoe@cpsuvic.org or Grant Odgers.

There was a meeting for interested members on Wednesday 9 April, the result of which will be reported in the next Unguarded Press.

International Women s Day ‚Äö?Ñ??walkthrough‚Äö?Ñ??

A small group of members did a walkthrough at 222 Exhibition Street on the Friday afternoon before the Labour Day long weekend to distribute badges celebrating International Women s Day and the 100th anniversary of the right to vote for Victoria s women as well as to invite staff to join the union if they were not members.

This event was greeted with responses varying from bemusement to amusement, and from indifference to enthusiastic support. Many thanks to Anne, Paddy, Zorica, and Andrea for their efforts.

If you are interested in learning a little about the history behind IWD, and the role of trade unions in fighting for women s rights, go to http://www.ofw.facs.gov.au/iwd/iwd_history.htm and http://www.isis.aust.com/iwd/stevens/origins.htm for short introductions.

Workers Memorial Day 28 April 2008

International Workers Memorial Day, 28 April is the day the union movement internationally comes together to mourn the dead and fight for the living. First started by the Canadian union movement in the early ‚Äö?Ñ??80s, and adopted globally by the union movement in the mid ‚Äö?Ñ??90 s, many governments now also make 28 April each year the focus of some occupational health and safety activities.

Each year the international union movement adopts a theme for the day.

This year the priority focus is ‚Äö?Ñ??good occupational health for all workers.‚Äö?Ñ??

People will commence gathering at the Memorial Rock, VTHC, corner Lygon Street and Victoria Parade, from 10:20am, with the ceremony starting at 10:30, concluding with 1 minute silence and wreath laying at 11:00am. Morning Tea will be provided at "Horti" Hall afterwards by IDSA (Industrial Deaths Support and Advocacy). Come along with your CPSU VWA colleagues to fight for the living and pay respect to the dead.

CPSU MEMBERSHIP IS PROTECTION FOR YOUR MOST IMPORTANT ASSET. YOUR JOB.

Speak to a colleague today about the benefits of CPSU membership and have them contribute to our successes rather than just enjoying the benefits.

TOGETHER WE DO BETTER!

http://www.cpsuvic.org/public_docs/Work-Can-Change-membership-flyer.pdf
http://www.cpsuvic.org/public_docs/memform.pdf


KAREN BATT
CPSU Victorian Branch Secretary

Friday, April 18, 2008