On 20 March, the result of the EA vote was declared and, as expected, it was an overwhelming YES.
The breakdown of the voting was:
- Participation rate: 1597 out of 1743 eligible voters = 91.6%
- Yes votes: 1481 out of 1597 votes cast = 92.7%
- No votes: 116/1597 = 7.3%
- Votes via Internet: 1516/1597 = 94.9%
- Votes via phone: 81/1597 = 5.1%
The declaration can be downloaded here.
Thank you!
This is a great result and we want to send a big thank you to our delegates who participated in the negotiations:
- Dave Johnson
- Gary Dowers
- Renee Degiorgio
- Sara Baxter
- Stuart Kirk
- Tracey Turner
- Mick Naumovski
What happens now?
The business has 14 days from the time the vote was declared to lodge the Agreement with the Fair Work Commission (FWC). In the interim, they will supply us with copies of their statutory declarations pertaining to the negotiations, voting process and so on. The unions then have 7 days from the date of lodgement to supply their own statutory declarations supporting the declarations supplied by Endeavour.
Once this is completed, we basically play the waiting game with regards to the Agreement’s approval. As per advice in the roadshow sessions, the business and the unions don’t expect to hear from the FWC for at least 3 months. It is after FWC approval that you will receive your $1750 and 2.75% increase.
We know 3 months is a long time to wait and may be frustrating, however, the Commission’s resources have been depleted due to recent legislative changes such as the reintroduction of the ABCC, who are more concerned about construction workers wearing union stickers on their hard-hats than letting people get on with the more important job of approving Agreements.
If you have any questions contact your Organiser Troy Dunne on 0419 403 076 or tdunne@usu.org.au
