S&G EA negotiations to proceed despite Covid-19 Pandemic

We have been reporting to you since April 2020 that with management we have been delaying the EA negotiations because of the pandemic in March and then the worsening of the pandemic. With management we have been meeting on a monthly basis to review the situation. At our scheduled meeting with management on the 3 August we decided to proceed with negotiations despite the worsening of pandemic conditions.

We have decided to do this because the situation in Victoria (and to a lesser extent in NSW) is worsening and it will continue for weeks/months. Therefore, at this rate it will never be the right time to start and both Agreements expire for negotiation purposes on the 31 December 2020. We just have to deal as best we can with a bad situation. To this end we have set the first EBA meeting for the 3 September 2020 in Melbourne. This will be conducted remotely because of the restrictions in Victoria and elsewhere. The USU/ASU will be represented at the bargaining table by National Industrial Officer Michael Rizzo and Victorian Private Sector Branch Organiser, Sarah Haar.

Role of delegates, survey monkey and USU/ASU Log of Claims

Of course we need USU/ASU delegates from around the country to be involved at the bargaining table with the USU/ASU Officials. We have negotiated with management that we can have 8-10 delegates involved in the bargaining. We would like every State represented and a mixture of job classifications also represented. We have established delegates in Queensland, WA, NSW and Victoria we can draw upon. Please express your interest asap with your local Organiser listed below.

We intend to table a Log of Claims with the firm in September. To this end in the next Newsletter we will send you a Survey Monkey questionnaire link to complete which will assist us to frame the Log.

We look forward to working with delegates, Organisers and members over the next few months so to achieve a fair and reasonable result for our membership in the new S&G EA’s.

Want more information?

If you have any questions please contact your local organiser.

Local Organisers:

For anyone who is not yet a member – it is not too late to join. Sign up now to make sure you are supported and represented throughout this process: www.usu.org.au/join