Newcastle Permanent Building Society: DO YOU WANT A COLLECTIVE AGREEMENT?
By Paul Sansom
USU Organiser
Sep 16, 2009
This is the question Level 4 and above members need to ask themselves. Management has stated they are not interested in allowing you to collectively bargain.
They want to place you on another form of individual agreement.
When you were given your current individual contract did you have the opportunity to negotiate salary, overtime and penalty rates, leave entitlements?
No is what many members have told us.
Can you be confident that this time will be different?
Are you happy to sign an individual contract that:
May have no expiry date
May not allow you to negotiate important conditions of your employment
May not allow you to renegotiate the conditions of employment on a regular basis and
May mean your conditions are different to the majority of NPBS staff
The terms and conditions on the current AWAs and ITEAs were basically the same - it was a “claytons” collective agreement.
Why shouldn’t you have the opportunity to have input into your conditions of employment and vote on their implementation.
The Union feels that all NPBS employees should have the same conditions of employment that have been negotiated and voted on by the people affected by them – you the staff.
The USU is prepared to challenge management’s decision in relation to excluding you from the collective bargaining process but we can only do so if you, the members, want us to do so.
We need to show Management that our members want to be part of the collective bargaining process.
How do you do this? By sending Paul Sansom of our Newcastle office an email requesting Newcastle Permanent include level 4 and above staff in the proposed collective agreement.
The level of your support will dictate whether we will be in a position to challenge Management’s current position.
Please send your email to psansom@usu.org.au by the close of business September 23, 2009.
