CPSU has won the reinstatement of penalty rates and backdated 3.25% annual salary increases in the new Arts Centre Melbourne Enterprise Agreement, recently approved by the Fair Work Commission.

CPSU was notified on Friday that the Arts Centre Melbourne Enterprise Agreement 2018 has been approved.

CPSU has been able to achieve:

• 3.25% annual salary increases (backdated to 1 July 2017)
• A one-off ‘Good Faith in Bargaining Payment’ payable to all employees who were employed as at 1 April 2017 (pro-rata for part-time and casuals)
  • Grade 1: $1,800
  • Grade 2: $2,100
  • Grade 3: $2,400
  • Grade 4: $2,800
  • Grade 5: $3,500
  • Grade 6: $4,600

• Penalty Rates
  • State Government Agencies (SGA) Hours of Work and penalty rates for areas of CPSU coverage. Any work performed outside 7am – 7pm, Monday – Friday will attract penalty rates

• Secure Employment
  • Obligation on the Employer to give preference to secure forms of employment
• Measures to prevent the misuse of fixed-term contracts
• Measures to prevent the misuse of Casual employment
• Casual conversion mechanism
  • After 9 months a casual employee can request a review to be converted to ongoing or fixed-term employment
• Workload clause
  • For the first time an employee or group of employees can have their work allocation reviewed to address unsustainable workload pressures
• Occupational Health and Safety
  • For the first time Occupational Health and Safety will be included in your legally binding Enterprise Agreement
• Annual Leave loading
  • Now payable from commencement - under the previous Agreement you didn’t receive the 17.5% annual leave loading within your first 12 months of employment. We’ve fixed this.
• Family Violence Leave
  • Australia’s best Family Violence leave provisions with 20 days paid leave
• Non-discriminatory Parental Leave
  • Gender-neutral language that will allow same-sex parents to access paid parental leave without discrimination
• Pre-natal leave
  • 38 hours paid leave to attend medical appointments related to pregnancy
• Paid Cultural and Ceremonial Leave
  • 3 days paid cultural and ceremonial leave for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees
• NAIDOC Week leave
  • Paid leave to participate in NAIDOC Week activities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees

Over the life of this Enterprise Agreement CPSU members will be approximately $12,000 better off – this is before we consider the benefits of improved penalty rates and annual progression increases.

The Agreement will operate from 31 August 2018 and will expire on 30 June 2021.

CPSU would like to acknowledge the positive and constructive approach that Arts Centre Management adopted towards negotiations for this Enterprise Agreement, and also the passionate and tireless efforts of CPSU delegate, Elyse White.

The ACM should make copies of the new EA available to all staff and it will be available on the Fair Work Commission website.

If you have any questions or queries, feel free to contact CPSU Organiser Phillipa Balk.

CPSU will be requesting that EA implementation workshops commence immediately with ACM to ensure that rights and agreements are being applied correctly.

If are interested in being involved in this, please contact Phillipa.