CPSU seeks 3.3 per cent pay rise for former DPI Water employees – November 2017 (PDF version)
The CPSU NSW, with our lawyers, attended the Fair Work Commission (FWC) on 31 October 2017 to progress the claim for 3.3 per cent being passed onto the former DPI Water employees who are on State Copied Instruments after transferring to Water NSW.
Water NSW opposes the application, and the ACTU is supporting the CPSU NSW. Justice Ross, the FWC President, will issue a statement in the next few days in how to progress the matter.
The CPSU NSW will be given two weeks to make written submissions. Water NSW will be given two weeks to make submissions in response, with the CPSU NSW given one week to make additional submissions in reply if required.
The matter will be open to the broader employment sector, as there may be other employees, unions and employers who may be affected by this decision. For the CPSU NSW, we have a growing number of members migrating from the NSW Industrial Relations system to the Fair Work Act, with Copied State Instruments. There are now hundreds of employees directly affected and the union expects this to grow by hundreds more over the coming 12 months.
Negotiations for the Enterprise Agreement will continue on 2 and 3 November. Water NSW seems dedicated the principles of ‘performance-based’ salary progression and bonuses. It also seems dedicated to preventing employees from going above 50th percentile of the ‘general market’ for employee wages.
These key principles provide an uncertain approach to managing employee remuneration arrangements. As it moves more and more to an individualised bargaining system, where few employees will benefit greatly and the majority of employees will pay for it.
The strength for employee negotiations lays with the collective power of employees working together to bargaining for a better deal for everyone. This approach is used across many sectors, not just employment pay and conditions.
What members can do to help
