EBA8 negotiations continue this week.
A number of items were discussed during negotiations this week, but one item of particular focus was the Authorised Holiday that is afforded to staff around the Christmas / New Year period on a date agreed to between Australia Post and the Union during annual Christmas Arrangement negotiations.
Post has indicated their preference to remove the Authorised Holiday as it currently stands, as an agreed day between Christmas and New Year and to replace it by affording employees with an additional annual leave day to be taken during the regular annual leave roster.
Post claim this proposal is due to increasing customer demand around the New Year period.
Your Union has reminded Post that this extra day off during the festive season is for two reasons:
- It is an acknowledgement of the additional effort employees across the Corporation contribute over the festive season to ensure the public’s Christmas cards and gifts are delivered in a timely and proper manner.
- There is a blanket ban on the availing of leave entitlements in operational areas during this period to . This leaves many members in a position of not being able to enjoy this special time of the year with their friends and families.
Your Union feels that any change to the timing and entitlement to the Authorised Holiday during the festive season would, over time, diminish the reason for it and potentially could be lost forever in future EBAs as management slowly forget that an “Authorised Holiday” ever existed.
Post were also informed of the overwhelming response to the Union’s EBA8 survey (which can be completed online at www.eba8.org) and that an issue that continues to be mentioned time, and time again, in the survey is the perceived inability for our members to access annual and long service leave entitlements as it is due to insufficient relief staffing. Adding another 30,000 annual leave days into the mix will not make members’ plight for approved leave any easier.
We’d like to hear your thoughts on this proposal and encourage members to submit their comments by clicking here.
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