Here is the latest news from the University of Sydney CPSU NSW Branch Committee.
Library Change Process – Members have felt that the Library has not listened to their concerns, particularly around safety issues in the proposed new ways of working. CPSU NSW raised a dispute in the Draft Change Proposal (DCP) stage, but Library management asked us to provide a chance for them to respond to feedback in the Revised Change Plan (RCP). When this was released, the most substantive member concerns had not been addressed, so a new dispute was raised. The Library has not been willing to negotiate, and the dispute will now progress to the Fair Work Committee.
ICT Change Process – Back in April, a Preliminary Change Plan (PCP) was announced by the new CIO (Chief Information Officer – head of ICT). It was suggested at the time that this was more about a change in structure – standardising our ICT structure – than job losses. However, since then, silence. We have been told this is due to the amount of feedback received. At the recent ICT Joint Consultative Committee CPSU NSW was informed that a DCP had now been drafted and was being reviewed. After the review, it will be sent for endorsement by the University Executive. When CPSU NSW asked if it remained a structural change process with little or no emphasis on redundancies, that question was taken on notice subject to being conveyed to the CIO for response. We will pass on that response as soon as it is available.
Engineering TSS Change Process – This is a continuation of a broader change process that has taken place over several years and aims to remove technical staff from faculties and school and centralise them. The latest members to undergo this process are in the Engineering workshops. Again, a preliminary change process is underway and no DCP has been released at this point.
The University’s Change Proposals page is slow to update and is often months behind. We are rarely informed when a change process is underway. If you hear of a change process coming to your area, please let us know. If you are concerned about it, we will assist you.
Finally, all the external lights at the Parramatta Road / Derwent Street entrance are now working. The last “non-working” light was fixed a few weeks ago after the CPSU NSW reminded management that it had been defective (and reported defective) since June. To the credit of management, they did arrange an urgent fix once they were alerted.
At the September University Health and Safety Consultative Committee Meeting, several issues were raised by the CPSU NSW as follows:
CPSU NSW is offering numerous training courses as follows:
These courses fill up quickly, so if you are interested, then sign up ASAP.
Here’s the link: https://psa.asn.au/training-you/training-application/
Every union member is entitled to take 6 days of industrial training leave per year. If your manager resists granting you leave to undertake a course, then please immediately contact your delegate.
Staff are reminded of some of the extra entitlements and improvements in the new EA:
Please get to know your leave entitlements in the EA (available on the intranet) so you can access hard-won entitlements for you and your family. Please reach out to your union 1800 772 679 and/or your delegate if you need any further information or help accessing leave.
Clause 451(b) of the Enterprise Agreement says:
Eligibility lists will be used to support greater internal mobility. Where the same or substantially similar role has been advertised in the previous 12 months and an internal staff member on an eligibility list has been deemed appointable, they will be considered prior to advertising the role. An eligibility list is a list of candidates for an advertised role, who have previously been assessed by a selection committee as being eligible for appointment if the same or substantially similar role becomes vacant within 12 months.
If you have applied for a role at the University and been deemed appointable to the role but, ultimately, you did not get the role as there was a candidate considered ahead of you, you should not then need to prove yourself appointable if another similar role comes up within 12 months. You have already demonstrated this!
Please let a CPSU NSW Delegate know if you apply for a role, and you are asked to attend an interview if you believe that the above applies to you.
If you complete a job interview process and you don’t land the role and you receive no feedback, then it might be useful to specifically ask whether you were considered appointable. If you are told yes – you were appointable but not the preferred candidate, you should then be placed on an eligibility list and be considered for future positions which are substantially like the position you’ve been rated as suitable.
Finally, if you have interviewed for a position and been advised that you were appointable but not the successful candidate, it would be greatly appreciated if you contacted a CPSU NSW Delegate to let us know if you were then advised you were on an eligibility list. This advice might come from a manager involved in the interview or from HR. Knowing if staff are being informed of this would help us to establish whether this new aspect of the Enterprise Agreement is being properly implemented.
Ruth Livingstone
Vice President
Montserrat Vigo Montes
Assistant Secretary
Peter Adams
Work Health and Safety Officer
Ivan Coates
Membership Registrar
