The REX bargaining representatives and the United Services Union met once again with REX management on Thursday 14th September.

Discussions are progressing well with both parties continuing to bargain in good faith. A number of claims the USU had raised previously were discussed in the meeting, these are listed below:

Annual Leave Rosters

  • REX has confirmed that annual leave applied for and approved at the February cut-off is considered to be locked in. There were some concerns raised by contact centre management but we will enforce EBA clauses if need be. Staff who have leave booked in should not have it taken out from under them at the last minute. Plans are in place to address contact centre management’s misgivings.
  • Any request for changes to annual leave will be responded to by REX within 2 weeks.

Sick Leave

  • REX has confirmed that their intention with sick leave is to provide for 3 single day uncertificated occurrences per year. There is no plan to change this provision.

Rostering Single Days Off

  • REX confirmed they already try to avoid rostering single days off and will continue this practice. Both parties agreed there is no need to change the EBA wording.

Equal Access to Overtime and Weekend Shifts

  • Both parties agreed this is a delicate issue to tackle without disadvantaging some parties and the present arrangement will suffice.
  • REX management advised there will be a Roster Workshop on 13th October where issues like this will be addressed to see if any alternative solutions can be developed and improved upon.

Senior CSO Positions

  • Having some sort of recognition or alternative position for long-standing and highly skilled employees was once again discussed. REX management raised mild concerns over increased costs associated with this but the Union believes the skills and experience these people bring to the organisation far outweighs any minor increase to costs. Retaining these employees will allow REX to prosper in the long-run. We will continue to discuss this point, REX is going to come back with a summary of criteria they believe should be in the position.

Increase Redundancy Provisions

  • The USU advised that we believe the redundancy entitlements for long-term employees needs to be improved. REX has said they will consider options possibly including an ex-gratia add-on at 10 years and 20 years’ service intervals in the redundancy scheme. This will be discussed further.

Annual Pay Rise

  • The Union needs to come back to REX when results of our survey of members are available. Please complete the survey asap which can be found at http://bit.ly/rexebasurvey

In the meeting REX also presented their claims which included the following:

Term of Agreement

  • Proposed to change from 3 to 4 years.

Probation Reviews

  • Currently three reviews are held at 2, 4 and 6 months.
  • Proposed to change to two reviews at 3 and 6 months.

Shift Swap Repayments

  • Currently 90 day period to repay shift swaps, which has led to some swaps getting “lost in the system” and being abused.
  • Proposed to change this period to 28 days.

Overtime Meal Allowance

  • Currently, any time an employee works over one hour overtime they get the meal allowance provision.
  • REX has proposed to change this to only when overtime reaches 2 or more hours.

Sick Leave Immediately Before/After Annual Leave

  • REX has requested that if a single day of sick leave is taken directly before or after a period of annual leave that the employee must present a medical certificate for that day.

The next meeting is due to be held on Tuesday 26th September. In the meantime, the Union urges all members to fill in the online survey to indicate their pay rise preference. It has never been more important to become a member of the Union to ensure your voice is heard regarding pay and conditions in your workplace! Please contact your Industrial Organiser Josh Paterson at jpaterson@usu.org.au or 0419 761 320 with any questions or feedback.