This week, the union and union delegates met with Serco to discuss the union’s counteroffer, which was endorsed by a majority of members last week. At this meeting, Serco advised the union that they had no intention of offering any more than what was already offered, and rejected the union’s counteroffer.
To recap, Serco’s offer was 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 | $43.00 | $54.00 | $66.00 |
| CCO3 | $31.00 | $46.50 | $56.00 | $68.00 |
This means that the 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. Serco also reiterated that they would automatically progress those CCO2s to CCO3 upon certification of the EA who started working for Serco prior to July 2020, and that the requirement to do the relevant Cert IV modules would be waived. Instead, those CCO2s will have 12 months to complete the modules after they have progressed to CCO3, and not before. Everyone else will have to complete the requisite time before progressing to CCO3.
The union told Serco that the members rejected this offer. However, we do also acknowledge that members only had a few hours to digest the offer, as Serco wanted an answer prior to the most recent 48-hour strike.
The union let Serco know at our meeting that we would put out another bulletin letting members know what Serco’s position is, as is our obligation under the good faith bargaining requirements under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth).
The union will be on-site next Monday and Tuesday to discuss the above with members. However, Serco were advised in no uncertain terms that if – after having had time to properly consider the offer – the view of the membership remains unchanged, then we will consider engaging in further industrial action. However, we do want to take this opportunity to discuss the offer with members properly and without the pressure of having to decide whether to withdraw protected industrial action with a five-hour turnaround.
If you want to get in touch with the union and let us know what your thoughts are, then you can send an email to , , , or . You can also call Jess on 0401 521 561 or Kim on 0408 249 277. Otherwise, we will be around next week if you want to discuss the offer in person.
