BY PAUL OBOOHOV
CANBERRA Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) staff voted July 19 by more than 90% to reject a management draft industrial agreement.
The draft included a pay rise of only 6.5% over two years (low by public service standards), proposed cuts to remote localities allowances and travel provisions, and banned workers' recourse to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) for dispute resolution.
DEWR management, led by new secretary Peter Boxall (infamous for moving most staff in the finance department onto individual contracts), tried to convince DEWR staff to vote for the management draft by emailing them a personalised statement of how much extra pay they would receive.
Commenting on the outcome of the ballot, Community and Public Sector Union section secretary Jenness Gardner said: You would have to say there is not a lot of grey area in this result. We are hopeful that DEWR management will get the message.
Management has now written to the CPSU seeking negotiations on a union-negotiated agreement. The CPSU is demanding costings on management's proposals, suspecting that some of them will actually cost the department more, such as cutting involvement of the AIRC in dispute resolution. Other issues include how staff will be represented and whether the union negotiating team will be booked off work and be resourced.
From Green Left Weekly, August 7, 2002.
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