At a recent combined Unions meeting that had approximately 20 people in attendance a discussion on the Eastern Agreement Log of claims was had with the main points from their log of claims outlined below:

  1. Fair & reasonable pay rise – Minimum 3% PA for the life of the agreement,
  2. An increase to apply to all allowances including ESRA
  3. Superannuation improvements – Maintain current 5.5% employer contribution margin over SGC. Super to be paid on parental leave and Workers comp. Protecting Defined Benefit Scheme.
  4. More Apprenticeships – An ageing workforce industry wide needs urgent and sustained commitment grow Apprentice numbers year on year to ensure sustainability of future industry needs.
  5. Working from Home Clause – Introduce bonus additional leave scheme for extended periods of WAFH to support family friendly work environments and support positive mental health outcomes.
  6. Paid Union Meetings – New clause to reflect paid union member meetings of no more than four, one hour meetings per year per Depot. Meeting to be coordinated at times to suit operational outcomes.

The Broken Hill log of claims was discussed with the three main topics being:

  1. Fair & reasonable pay rise – A CPI OF 2.5% is mention in this statement, but the general senses was that 3% would be the minimum accepted.
     
  2. Working from Home Allowance – Discussion about an allowance for the additional costs involved when working from home.
     
  3. Remote Area allowance – Broken Hill Essential Energy employees do not receive a Remote area allowance. Every Essential Energy employee west from Dubbo do receive the remote area allowance. There are examples of people who work in Broken Hill that receive an allowance for living remotely.

A brief discussion about the Southern Agreement log of claims. Main point was:

  1. Fair & reasonable pay rise – Asking 4% a year for 3 years

In general the log of claims from Eastern, Southern and Broken Hill were very similar. The Fair & reasonable pay rise are about the same. Wage increase of 3% to 4%. The introduction of new allowances including working from home and remote area,

If you require further information or you want to add any more claims, could you please contact Mick Jones 0450 020 589 or email mjones@usu.org.au