It has been a longer time than we would have liked for this latest update, and for that we appreciate your patience at a time when people are concerned about their futures.
It has been a hectic time at Ausgrid in recent weeks and, as a result, your union delegates and officials have been in the thick of it attending various meetings which, more often than not, has required delegates and officials attending up to 4 meetings in a day, up to 3 days a week.
In fact, they have been the most heavily involved of all throughout these proceedings. In doing so, your union has made progress and achieved outcomes in the various areas of concern.
EA
Negotiations for the renewal of your Enterprise Agreement are progressing well.
The parties continue to work through draft clauses for inclusion, in a professional and co-operative manner; we also continue to seek member feedback in relation to these clauses.
Our union has fielded enquiries with respect to what Ausgrid is offering by way of a pay increase. As you will know, the combined unions put forward a claim of 3% per annum for the life of the Agreement. We can confirm, however, that Ausgrid has not put forward a counter offer. That said, we anticipate that Ausgrid will put forward an offer in one of the next meetings as we aim to reach in-principle agreement in July. Obviously, we will report to our members when we receive an offer.
The next meeting is scheduled for 13 July.
Career, Capability and Remuneration (CCR) sub-committee meetings continue to occur on a weekly basis and your union delegates and officials are making a significant contribution to these proceedings. This is a complex area of discussion and we will inform our membership of outcomes as they arise.
RESTRUCTURES
Sub-committee meetings around Ausgrid’s proposed restructures continue to occur multiple times a week; often times there are multiple meeting to attend on any given day. Your union delegates and officials have been very heavily involved in these discussions – we have been particularly involved in meetings pertaining to: GIS (in fact, we are in dispute in this space and are due to meet with management on 27 June), Asset Management, Contact Centre/Customer, Finance, Field Services & People & Safety/HR.
Your union has achieved outcomes in these sub-committees by way of having its members granted the time and resources to submit their own proposals; these proposals have been received by Ausgrid & they have resulted in significant changes to some of the original proposals put forward by Ausgrid. We will inform members as these discussions progress and reach their conclusions.
DELEGATES
We are seeking two Administration Officer delegates at Ausgrid’s Zetland depot and we have already had one Expression of Interest. It will be announced in our next flyer as to who has been elected.
On that, we have identified work places that don’t have delegates. Your union officials rely on their delegates to be their eyes and ears on the ground and we urge anyone who is interested to contact your relevant official about seeking delegate election. Furthermore, work place delegates are the first point of contact for members who need assistance, thereby giving comfort to their colleagues as they know they have someone to turn to. When elected, Ausgrid will be formally notified of your election, which then means elected delegates are able to access leave so as to attend the necessary training to perform their role effectively. Again, we urge you to put your hand up by contacting your relevant official.
MEMBERSHIP
If you or someone you know is not a member of your union, please complete the attached membership form (overleaf) and return via email to your relevant organiser. Alternatively, you can join online at www.usu.org.au/join. People who refer others for membership will be eligible for a payment of $50 per member joined. These payments are paid periodically throughout the year.
Troy Dunne
Sydney Ausgrid
Organiser
tdunne@usu.org.au
0419 761 318
Brian Cameron
Newcastle/Hunter
Ausgrid Organiser
bcameron@usu.org.au
0419 403 076
