Forestry Corporation NSW: Bargaining stops on your Enterprise Agreement despite union opposition

On Monday 29 July, Forestry Corporation NSW (FCNSW) advised its workforce and the unions that they have ceased bargaining for the FCNSW Enterprise Agreement and have opened the access period of two weeks.

This is premature. The CPSU NSW and your bargaining team contends that that the proposed FCNSW EA is currently deficient for many reasons.

The proposed FCNSW EA 2024-27 will look very different to the 2017-2020 FCNSW EA as it has been completely re-drafted. Your bargaining committee delegates have worked tirelessly to address the claims and re-drafting deficiencies in the proposed EA – most with success, however some without. The concern remains that FCNSW will seek EA changes without actually bargaining for them, hoping that a change in wording will provide re-interpretation of the entitlement clauses.

Salary increases, duration and other clauses are insufficient

While FCNSW has moved on several issues and claims made by the AWU and CPSU NSW on matters like firefighting, incident pay and some tinkering around the edges of the flex arrangements. Their positions on the claims that really matter to our membership namely: salary increases, EA duration and days off are wildly insufficient.

FCNSW have been at pains to update the workforce on any minute movement in their bargaining position but will not commit to paying staff at the minimum of public sector wages policy (that is still being thrashed out between the CPSU NSW/PSA and the NSW Government) despite only paying NSW Government wages policy when FCNSW was heavily in profit. CPSU NSW members are still suffering from the effects 0.3% increases in 2021.

The CPSU NSW has put it very simply to FCNSW and the NSW Government – pay your staff what they are worth and what they are worth to the NSW community and regional economies.

It’s now FCNSW intention to put the proposed FCNSW EA to a vote of the workforce without the endorsement of either the CPSU NSW or the AWU.

The CPSU NSW contends that FCNSW and the NSW Government offer isn’t satisfactory and accordingly, the Enterprise Agreement proposal is deficient.

The CPSU NSW calls on all members, when the time comes vote NO!

  • Vote NO to four years of inaction followed by a truncated EA negotiation with deficient terms.
  • Vote NO to being treated like a second-rate public sector worker because of NSW Government decisions to artificially implement limits on FCNSW via means of the Corporation.
  • Vote NO to locking in an effective pay cut for the next three years.
  • Vote NO to insufficient flexible working hours provisions and an ill-defined process to recognise payment for lost time, ripe for manipulation.
  • Vote NO to any loss of conditions because of the FCNSW EA format change.

FCNSW has given CPSU NSW members a little taste of what’s to come – FCNSW is still in a financial hole and will have to restructure drastically. That means staff will be required to do more with less and without the proper remuneration to attract and retain qualified and experienced staff.

FCNSW business decisions not to fill jobs will only exacerbate the deficiencies in the proposed EA on working hours and lost hours in terms of flex. It’s not hard to see where this is going.

Where To From here?

Be on the lookout for an in-depth analysis by the CPSU NSW on the deficiencies within the proposed FCNSW EA in further bulletins.

Ask questions at the briefings.

Ask questions of the bargaining team, the workplace delegates and the CPSU.

Ask yourself why I am being remunerated so poorly. Ask yourself is that fair. Ask the worker next to you is this fair.