Our Next TAC Agreement - Update

Thank you to all members who attended meetings in Geelong and Melbourne on Monday and for those of you who couldn t make it, this bulletin outlines the negotiations to date.

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http://www.cpsuvic.org/public_docs/TAC-HEADLIGHT-1106-EBA.pdf


The following resolution was carried unanimously:

This meeting of CPSU members held on June 2nd 2008 demands that TAC make a good faith wages offer which maintains the value of wages at a living wage level.

This meeting endorses the CPSU counter offer of a wage rise of 6%, 5% and 5% to meet the real cost of living.

Furthermore we express our dismay at the blanket rejection of measures to make TAC an employer of choice in a competitive labour market where hours of work and family leave have become critical issues for working Australians and their families.

After a month of negotiations, the TAC has rejected CPSU's wage claim of 6%, + 6% and + 6% and made its first wage offer.

The TAC offer is;

* 3.5% effective from date the agreement is approved from the Workplace Authority and backdated to the day the agreement is lodged at Industrial Relations Victoria (lets say approx late August 2008)
* 3.75% from 1 July 2009 and
* 4% from 1 July 2010

The management offer is weighted to encourage staff to continue to work for TAC in Geelong.

TAC Management pointed out that the TAC has already incurred a lot of expense this year due to payment of entitlements under the Geelong Deed and want to recoup this.

This offer has been considered by CPSU and our TAC delegates group and it was unanimously agreed to reject this offer on the basis of the amount offered and the way it is structured.

Payments under the Geelong Deed are not relevant to our wages' claim and this year's pay increase should be the best possible for everyone at the TAC.

In the spirit of co-operative negotiations, CPSU has made a counter offer to accept 6%, 5% and 5% however we have not received a formal response to this counter offer.

TAC has already rejected many key CPSU claims, including;

* increased employer contribution to superannuation
* increased annual leave, paid sick leave and paid maternity and paternity leave
* a clause to promote and protect Occupational Health and Safety standards in the workplace
* review of workload at employees' request.

The positives so far - what we have achieved

Parental leave.

* paid adoption leave up from 8 weeks to 14
* special maternity leave 14 weeks
* permanent care leave - where take a foster child - 2 weeks
* include VPS standards ‚Äö?Ñ?¨ re: right to request part time work, gender neutral - i.e. partner rather than paternity leave

Employee takes paid mat leave at half pay - full 28 weeks will count as service

* See below if you have taken half pay maternity leave after 1 January 2006

Sick leave.

3 days of sick leave without a certificate- can be taken consecutively- e.g. could take 4 days- will only need a cert for one of them. This will still be subject to notice. Unpaid sick leave will count as service, subject to notice and evidence (certificate or stat dec) Stat dec can be used instead of a certificate - an acknowledgement that it can be hard to get appointments to see doctors- esp. in regional area.

Recognition of service ‚Äö?Ñ?¨

Breaks in service of less than 12 months will no longer be treated as a break in continuous service- this means if leave to travel for a year and then you are re-employed ‚Äö?Ñ?¨ years of service before you left will count in calculation of long service. Holidays while on extended leave - New agreement will provide that if you are on extended paid leave - for example- maternity or long service, where a public holiday falls in the period of leave - you will receive an additional day in lieu - same as annual leave

New leave provisions

- Sporting Events

Up to 2 weeks in any 2 year period may be granted to participate in any non professional state, national or international sporting event

- Blood Donor

3 hours once every 3 months to give blood- with cert of attendance

- Community Activities

Mayor or Shire President ‚Äö?Ñ?¨ up to 3 hours a week. Councillor - up to 3 hours a fortnight. Elected to a community organisation or a member of a community organisation 3 hours if chair. Committee member ‚Äö?Ñ?¨ 3 hours a fortnight

- Hours of work - extended to cover Job Groups 5, 6 and legal family - although still excluded from flexitime and overtime - will make it clearer as to when time off for work outside inherent requirements will apply.

* The TAC s practice has been to treat the second half of a half pay period as unpaid and therefore not counting towards service. This issue was raised by the CPSU and it has now been agreed that all paid service- whether full pay or half pay- will count towards service. This change in policy has been backdated to 1 January 2006. If you have taken half pay maternity leave since 1 January 2006 you should contact People Direct to ensure your entitlements have been correctly calculated. The change in policy may make a difference to your years of service for the purposes of calculating long service leave and redundancy payments.

TOGETHER WE DO BETTER.