After months of negotiations, it’s finally time for you and your colleagues to decide the fate of your HCF Enterprise Agreement 2022 – 2025.  

Voting will start on Wednesday 19th October 2022 and will close on the following Wednesday 26th October 2022.   

What’s in the deal?  

You should have received a copy of the proposed agreement from HCF for you to review and consideration.  

Briefly, your Union Bargaining Team has been able to secure:  

  • A guaranteed 4% increase for all EA employees this year  
  • A guaranteed 2% increase for all EA employees for next year and the year after and a move to a pay for performance model based on currently assessed performance indicators which will see:  

– Additional 2% increase for employees who meet the Outstanding criteria. 
– Additional 1.5% increase for Exceeds Expectations 
– Additional 1% for Successfully Passed 
– Additional 0.5% for Partially Successful 
– No Additional increase for Unsuccessful  

Your union representatives strongly advocated for a fairer pay system that not only recognises but remunerates the high performing work you already do combined with the long-standing experience of many of our members. 

We would like to commend management once again for agreeing to our proposal that in principle recognises such commitment and for agreeing to remove the dreaded requirement to pass two performance reviews each year to even receive any pay increase.   

What about the conditions?   

As communicated in our previous bulletin you can read by clicking here, HCF management proposed to make a range of changes which was going to have a significant negative impact on our conditions at work.   

This included changes to your Saturday penalty rates when your overtime is paid and how the change in pay cycle may potentially cause financial loss on you.   

However, you made clear your voices were heard at the negotiation table and following months of review and negotiation, management dropped the most impactful changes to your conditions that they were proposing.   

As a result, the most notable change will be the Saturday Overtime meal allowance payment will be pulled back by 2 hours and the Called-In/Back minimum payment change from 4 to 3 hours.   

Your union was able to negotiate an additional backpay of 4% to the 1st of July 2022 which will be withheld by HCF upon approval of the EA and paid out to you during the pay cycle transition early next year.   

HCF management have also committed to paying any difference between the backpay amount and your weekly pay to ensure no financial loss in the process.   

Furthermore, your union representatives were able to negotiate a legally binding Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) specifically addressing the need for more consultation on matters to do with any future changes to your KPI’s.   

HCF management were very reluctant to compromise on this claim, but we believe we have settled on an agreement that is only the first step towards seeing further improvement in this space!   

You can read the negotiated MOU by clicking here.  

Next Steps:  

  • Following months of negotiations, your union representatives would like to commend HCF management for working with our membership proactively to reach agreement.   
  •  The ballot for your new EA will be held from Wednesday 19th October 2022 to the following Wednesday 26th October 2022.    
  • It is our intention to support this offer and recommend a YES vote in this ballot.   

If you have any questions about what has been negotiated or about the voting or approval process, please don’t hesitate to contact myself on 0417 420 924 or via email tgao@usu.org.au.  

THANK YOU!  

Your Union Bargaining Team made up of your fellow colleagues have been tirelessly working to negotiate improvements to your pay and conditions.  

We wish to pass on our gratitude to Kevin Gabutti, Amanda Higham, Nicholas Reed, Michael Gorgeios, Richard Irwin and Alan Ngo for their leadership and relentless pursuit for a better agreement for all of us.  

We are Stronger Together (and it pays off!)   

Your Union Bargaining Team have only been able to do their job with your support at their back – which you have demonstrated by turning your voices into action by joining and supporting your union.   

With a strong and determined union presence in the workplace, we were able to achieve good outcomes like this through negotiation.   

It is still vital to continue growing our union in the workplace.   

If you know of a colleague who is grateful of the many improvements that have been negotiated over the many years, but still isn’t a union member, forward them this email and encourage them to join their union today!   

New members can join online at www.usu.org.au/join or by calling 1300 136 604. 

For more information please contact USU Organiser Thomas Gao on 0417 420 924 or tgao@usu.org.au