Agreement
At a meeting held on 26 October, the combined unions spoke to their interests, as per the interest based approach the parties have agreed to take.
The interests spoken to included:
- The maintenance of conditions and a reasonable wage increase. ie – members not funding their own pay increase via trade off of conditions;
- No undermining of job protections. ie – no forced redundancies for the life of the job protections period, at a minimum;
- A 38 hr week with no loss of pay for those working a 40 hr week; and
- The process of transition to be clear and fair for employees on contract.
Toward meeting’s end, it was agreed to move the negotiation meetings from fortnightly to weekly. This will take effect from the next meeting, which is scheduled for 9 November.
The parties have also agreed to explore options that will assist us in reaching a negotiated outcome sooner rather than later.
Long Service Leave check
All members who have changed their ordinary hours of work/week might want to check your LSL entitlement. This can be done by dividing the LSL “Hours” recorded on your pay slip by your ordinary hours of work each week. This will identify your recorded LSL entitlement in “Weeks”. Then establish your actual LSL entitlement in “Weeks” from the relevant clause of your Agreement and see if they are the same (if you have taken any Long Service Leave remember to deduct that amount).
If there is a difference, then you may wish to discuss this with your local Delegate or your Organiser to assist in recovering any anomaly.
Membership
The strength of a union is in its membership – no membership = no leverage which amounts to no negotiating strength.
In the case of Endeavour Energy, basically anyone who doesn’t perform the role of a certified electrical tradesperson is eligible to join our union.
Joining is easy – simply join online at usu.org.au/join
Need help?
If you have any questions about the role of a work place delegate, please don’t hesitate to contact your delegate/s or Troy Dunne, USU Energy Sector Organiser, on 0419 403 076 and tdunne@usu.org.au
