The CPSU NSW, the Professional Staff Union, has been hard at work fighting and advocating for your rights at work. There have been many changes within Macquarie University over the past few months, and the CPSU NSW has been meeting regularly with management and members about these issues.
On 5 May, the CPSU NSW met with management for our regular PSIC (Professional Staff Implementation Committee). At this meeting we discussed a variety of topics. Firstly, we discussed the redeployment process for staff who were affected by the recent redundancies. HR will be appointing a staff member directly to become a “redeployment officer”, meaning there will be someone specifically supporting those who are being redeployed, and working through the process. All vacancies in the university will first be offered to staff who are in the redeployment process, before going out to the wider university. This is in line with the Enterprise Agreement.
If you have any concerns surrounding the redeployment process, or you are wondering about your rights during this time, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the union – call 1300 772 679.
For those members who have recently gone through a change management, HR will be implementing a Post-Review survey to ensure that the change management has gone well. While this won’t be 100 per cent anonymous (you will have to indicate your team), the union has been guaranteed no-one will be punished for answering honestly. For management, this is a chance to realign any issues that have arisen during this process. Because of this we implore you to answer as honestly as possible. If you have any concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the union to discuss them – you can call 1300 772 679 to do so.
We have also been made aware that there is going to be an audit of all Health and Safety Representatives (HSRs) within the Workplace Health and Safety (WHS) space, with elections in the near future. This is a great opportunity for you to be involved in your workplace. A HSR works to ensure the workplace is safe, and is an essential part of the union and workplace. If you’re interested in getting involved, please contact your organiser Kirra Jackson at .
In the PSIC meeting, the issue surrounding resource constraints was raised; namely the fact people are still being expected to do the same amount of work as before COVID, but with fewer resources. This is something of great concern to the CPSU NSW because we see this as a WHS issue – it’s very easy for people to get burnt out doing extreme levels of work. One of the concerns raised was that senior management has made it clear that there needs to be a change in levels of expectations of teams, but that hasn’t seemed to filtered down. This means some staff cannot even complete their BAU because they’re being overloaded.
If this is something that is happening to you, or you see happening within your workplace, please let the union know. This is something your union can make a great impact on, but we can only do so if we’re aware of it. Please contact or call 1300 772 679
Bargaining with Macquarie University is set to start this year, so the union is getting ready. In order for us to ensure your current rights and conditions are protected, we need people to be involved. Over the next few months the CPSU NSW will be holding union meetings to discuss goals and conditions surrounding the Log of Claims and what we will present. It is important you’re involved in this so that we can ensure your voice is heard.
We are also looking for staff to be at the table during negotiations. You don’t have to do much to do this, and you will receive paid time off to attend these meetings – with your manager being told to find another way to get your work done during that time. It is really important that we have a member of staff at the table, and so if this is something that you’re interested or willing to do, please email . We’d love to have you.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the union. You can do so by contacting the following:
Kirra Jackson Organiser
0438 416 615
Member Support Centre
1300 772 679
Please talk to your co-workers about the CPSU NSW. The best way to ensure a strong union is by having a large membership. If they’re not members, you can ask them to join at www.cpsunsw.org.au/join. Feel free to share this bulletin with them, too.
United we Bargain, Divided we Beg
