First of all Happy New Year from your Union.
On Monday 14 January 2020, your USU Delegates Zac Moran and Frances Morgan-Keith along with USU Organiser Clare Raffan met with NSWTF General Secretary John Dixon and Compliance & Operations Manager Jo Kowalczyk to discuss the issue of removing RDO’s from your EBA for the 15 or so longstanding employees who have carried that workplace condition over from past EBAs.
The USU informed the Federation of the result of the RDO survey that was sent out last year in which 54.84% of those surveyed rejected the Federation’s proposal to remove existing RDOs for the 15 or so longstanding employees.
The Federation challenged the survey and did not agree with its outcome, a criticism that was rejected by your Union. Even though more than half of those surveyed supported those 15 or so longstanding employees’ existing workplace conditions, the Federation was adamant that they would push ahead to remove those conditions. In an attempt to reasonably find a solution to this issue, your Union suggested that the RDOs would eventually cease to apply because of natural attrition but the Federation responded negatively to that suggestion.
Your Union does not support trading off conditions nor does it support the principle that in order to give to some you must take from some, in other words “robbing Peter to pay Paul”. Whilst your Union seeks to improve or maintain working conditions, it cannot stop the Federation from putting out a draft EBA that will diminish the working conditions of some of its longest standing employees.
We understand that the Federation will be holding town hall meetings with employees to discuss the draft EBA but be assured that the removal of RDOs for the 15 or so longstanding employees is not endorsed by the USU.
