University of Sydney Union Homepage
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| CAMPAIGN UPDATE 16 - 4 July 2011 |
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Dear Members and Supporters,
Vote ‘No’
CPSU members are asking their colleagues to join with them in voting ‘No’ to the Enterprise Agreement that is currently proposed, and to support continued negotiations for an improved Agreement.
CPSU members say “No Deal”
CPSU members have voted unanimously to not endorse the agreement. It’s the belief of members that the agreement, as proposed, contains significant reductions to key areas such as long service leave and redundancy pay and that these reductions come without guaranteed pay increases.
No real pay increases – you be the judge
The pay increases offered in the agreement apply only to the minimum rates for each level, not to the actual wages staff earn. This means staff who earn above the minimum rates will not be guaranteed pay increases. The CPSU encourages all staff to check the rates provided in the agreement and to be the judge of whether or when they will receive an increase. The goal of CPSU members from the outset of bargaining was to give staff a say over their pay, by having the rates set in the Agreement reflect the actual wages staff earn at each classification level. By offering staff a minimum rates agreement, USU are in effect keeping the process of effecting real pay increases out of the process of collective bargaining and out of the hands of staff.
A work in progress
After instigating bargaining in early 2010 and working earnestly for an improved agreement since this time, CPSU members do not take this position lightly. The CPSU is pleased with some of the conditions they have negotiated such as access to purchased leave and an improved managing change process, but these improvements do not make up for the loss of conditions and the lack of guaranteed pay increases. Members, and those involved in bargaining, are disappointed that an agreement has not yet been reached through genuine consensus at the negotiating table which the CPSU is able to recommend to all staff. The CPSU sees this vote as an opportunity for all staff to collectively voice their opinion within the negotiating process and to say clearly that they want a better deal.
Committed to continue bargaining
The CPSU is seeking to continue negotiating for an improved agreement at the earliest possible date. A ‘No’ vote to the proposed agreement will send a strong unified message that staff, both union members and their colleagues, are committed to seeing real wages increased and improved conditions, without the currently proposed reductions. If staff vote ‘No’ their conditions will continue to be covered, as they are today, by the 2001 Agreement and any existing individual arrangements, until such time as an improved agreement is in place.
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How to Vote Voting is open until |
YOUR CPSU Contacts
Colin Smyth – 9563 6019
Rachael Hughes – 9563 6067
Graydon Plumridge (CPSU Organiser) – 9248 3305
Authorised by John Cahill, State Branch Secretary of the CPSU, The Comminity and Public Sector Union (SPSF Group NSW Branch) 160 Clarence St SYDNEY NSW 2000