PSA (CPSU) enterprise bargaining update No. 3 – 21 July 2015

TAFE Bulletin – enterprise bargaining update No. 3 – 21 July 2015 (PDF version)

Your PSA (CPSU) Bargaining Team met with TAFE and the other unions over Wednesday 15 and Thursday 16 July. Discussions were focused primarily around two areas – hours of work and span of hours. Many of TAFE’s proposed slashed conditions relate to these two areas including flexible working hours, shift work, overtime, daily bandwidth and rostered days off.

TAFE has maintained their position to increase 80% of staff’s weekly hours from 35 to 37 hours per week without compensation. The PSA proposed that TAFE consider moving the 20% of staff currently working 38 hours down to 35 hours. TAFE did not agree to this, and has not agreed to keep staff doing 35 or 38 hours as they currently do (though they have agreed to consider this).

The negotiations and discussions regarding bargaining will be happening over the next couple of weeks as we near TAFE’s imposed deadline of 16 September. The PSA is committed to negotiating intensively over this period, but will not accept the conditions of our members being slashed in the process.

If TAFE maintains their current proposals, the PSA (CPSU) cannot recommend that our members accept any of what is being offered.

Members meetings

The PSA have already held member meetings at a number of colleges over the last few weeks, to discuss TAFE’s proposals. These proposals currently include:

  1. A rushed and untested new classification system agreed to within 8 weeks
  2. 80% of TAFE staff currently working 35 hours per week to work an extra 2 hours per week, for no extra pay
  3. Extending the span of hours for all staff to 6am to 9pm
  4. Introducing broken shift work which can be used for all staff
  5. Drastically restricting and limiting access to flexible working hours arrangements

At all of these meetings, members have unanimously passed a motion that:

  • Rejects TAFE’s current proposals to slash working conditions in return for a retrospective pay rise of 2.5%
  • Confirms that the protection of current working conditions remain as a priority throughout the enterprise bargaining negotiations

Many more meetings are planned throughout July and August. Please keep an eye out for details to ensure you can provide your thoughts on the above proposals.

In order for the PSA to continue to strongly defend your conditions of employment, it is vital you encourage your colleagues who may not yet be a member of the PSA to join.

Not a member? Join the PSA today to fight for improvements instead of slashed wages and conditions at membership.psa.asn.au/join/

Your Bargaining Representatives

PSA Delegates

Leon Parissi
Margaret Bamford
Christopher Hobbins
Glenda Pryor
Andrew Ruddell
Brad Cowie
Brook Down
Gary Hodgkinson

PSA Staff

Phoebe Dangerfield
Blake Stephens