Bargaining for EBA10 continued over the past two weeks with meetings focussed on matters pertaining to retail, delivery and contact centres.
Robust talks progressed with discussions focussing on employment arrangements, start times and rostering arrangements including access to overtime and reduced attendance rostering, access to leave entitlements, workplace flexibility, the use of contractors and superannuation.
Lengthy discussion ensued around bringing ADM to an end, what a future delivery model should look like, and how it would be developed. A future delivery model means a new way forward – great. But what is critically important at this stage is determining what kind of role our members can and should play in that important process.
Getting a new model right is crucial for members across the entire organisation. In addition to our posties responsible for the last mile, our members across vans, transport and processing are all impacted by service standards and depend on an appropriate model to maintain their take-home pay levels and shift entitlements and our members in retail and the contact centres are the ones who feel the brunt of the public’s anger when bad decisions are made that affect the services you’re required to provide.
Such significant workplace change, particularly one that affects service delivery, job quality, take-home pay and workers’ health and wellbeing, should never again be allowed to occur without genuine involvement of workers.
Early indications are that Australia Post is indeed genuine about engaging with our members to develop a new way forward that delivers for the public and for workers. And today, Australia Post took that position publicly – writing to employees confirming temporary relief measures, including the ADM, would not continue past June 30.
This is an incredibly positive step in response to our bargaining claim for an end to ADM.
It is now crucial to get the consultative framework right, to determine what the delivery model looks like going forward. In our view, EBA10 can simply not be finalised without this forming part of the overall EBA10 package. And from your feedback, such a process would only be acceptable to members if it were guided by the following fundamental principles:
- One run per postie, delivering all articles five days per week;
- The ongoing maintenance of traditional take-home pay components, such as penalty rates;
- Restoring entitlements and benefits lost across all workforce areas impacted by the temporary reform and COVID-19 changes; and
- Sufficient resourcing, modelled around quality permanent jobs – and where the work offering can efficiently be modelled around full-time employment, this should always be the preferred method of engagement.
Talks will continue on what exactly will happen in the short-term, post-June 30, and how the consultative process will be established to work through a new permanent model with genuine input from the workers who have to work within it.
We’ll keep members up to date as the bargaining process continues. Make sure you log on to our dedicated campaign website at www.eba10.com.au to keep up to date.
Should you require any further information, please contact Branch Assistant Secretary Peter Chaloner or Branch Officials Cade Anderson, Elly Huttly, Phil Kessey, TK Ly, Liam Murphy, Peter O’Connell, Dharmpal Singh or Dennis Williams on (02) 9893 7822.
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