Yesterday afternoon, your union and delegates met with Serco. As you know, Serco tabled an offer a few weeks ago prior to the 48-hour stoppage. The offer was rejected by the members.
After that offer was tabled, the union put out another survey regarding the same offer but gave members more time to consider it (rather than the initial four-hour window that members had to consider the offer in the first instance). The second survey indicated that more members supported the offer after they were given time to consider it.
At yesterday’s meeting, the union indicated that Serco would need to offer more in order for a majority of members to consider the offer acceptable. Late yesterday afternoon, Serco contacted the union and stated that the latest offer stands but that they would also offer an additional sign-on bonus of $1000.
Serco has indicated it will seek to commence the access period next week, and that they will put the offer out to their employees as it currently stands. To recap, the wage offer is as follows:
| Wage offer: Year 1 | Base rate | Time and a half | Double time | PH rate |
| CCO1 | $27.00 | $40.50 | $52.00 | $60.00 |
| CCO2 | $28.00 | $42.00 | $53.00 | $65.00 |
| CCO3 | $30.00 | $45.00 | $55.00 | $67.00 |
| Wage offer: Year 2 | Base rate | Time and a half | Double time | PH rate |
| CCO1 | $28.00 | $42.00 | $53.00 | $61.00 |
| CCO2 | $29.00 | $43.50 | $54.00 | $66.00 |
| CCO3 | $31.00 | $46.50 | $56.00 | $68.00 |
As before, overtime rates will be reduced from 200 per cent after the first three hours to between 184 per cent and 190 per cent, depending on your grade, as will the public holiday rates (per the table). Other penalties, including night shift and weekend penalties, remain the same. Everyone who started prior to July 2020 will automatically progress to CCO3 upon certification of the EA and will have 12 months to complete three Cert IV modules.
This offer is the result of years of negotiations followed by several months of industrial action. Without members participating in protected action, Serco never would have tabled the initial offer, let alone another offer with a sign-on bonus included. Everybody who participated in the action and was an active union member during this period should be incredibly proud of what you’ve managed to achieve.
Serco has stated repeatedly it won’t budge on the OT rate unless the hourly rate is reduced. It is the view of the union that this offer is the best that we are going to get during this round of bargaining, and as such we are recommending it to the membership. This has been an incredibly lengthy and tumultuous industrial campaign, and it is thanks to your efforts that we managed to get this far in the first place. As the EA is only a two-year deal, we will be able to recommence negotiations within 18 months and push for an even higher hourly rate. It is also important to note that, whilst everyone works a lot of overtime, overtime is not guaranteed and having a higher base rate is incredibly important.
The union will await to hear from Serco in relation to the process moving forward and will keep members updated, but if you have any questions or feedback regarding the offer in the meantime then you can send an email to , , , or . You can also call Jess on 0401 521 561 or Kim on 0408 249 277.
