As CPSU NSW members would be aware, Aruma is going through a monumental restructuring which will affect a large part of the organisation.
When CPSU NSW industrial staff learned that there would be potential job losses, your union immediately made submissions to Aruma to implement a recruitment freeze for current vacant positions. Our goal was to ensure that as many roles as possible were left open in case CPSU NSW members were seeking to remain at Aruma and a recruitment freeze would maximise redeployment opportunities for affected members.
Aruma agreed to halt recruitment activities and promptly advised CPSU NSW of this decision. Aruma also agreed to adjust the documentation being supplied to employees to confirm the recruitment freeze.
On the 9th October 2024, CPSU NSW members from across NSW met via MSTeam. The main purpose of the meeting was for CPSU NSW industrial staff to consult with members about the significant workplace change in train at Aruma.
Given there are potential job losses, the CPSU NSW member meeting was well-attended. The feedback and concerns expressed was diverse and comprehensive. Resulting from this meeting of CPSU NSW members, union industrial staff commenced compiling feedback already received along with new feedback from the Thursday MSTeams meeting.
It was clear that there is conflicting information being provided to Aruma employees depending on where they are located across the state.
Of great concern to CPSU NSW members is the inconsistent messaging regarding the business case for the workplace change, how new portfolios are allocated, why some regions are not subject to redistribution, and the basis of which new portfolios have been allocated.
Some members have been told by their local management that the portfolios are being reworked based on budget considerations, others on the number of participants being supported. Regardless of which metric has been promoted locally, there are significant anomalies identified by members with their new allocated portfolio.
Additionally, CPSU NSW members advised that they have been informed that new role descriptions and KPIs had been developed and would be implemented post-restructures. Clarification on this is presently being sought from Aruma.
If role descriptions and KPIs have been changed without consultation, CPSU NSW has advised Aruma that it is considering a dispute notification around a failure to consult.
CPSU NSW members also view that the consultation period is too short and will challenge them to seek advice to learn more about the options available to them during the restructure.
On behalf of our CPSU NSW members, the union has asked Aruma to extend the consultation period by seven days (extension of deadline to 22 October 2024).
Thanks to the CPSU NSW fighting for its members, Aruma has agreed to this deadline.
