Australian Services UnionVictorian Private Sector Branch

ORGANISEUnion News for delegates and workplace representatives

Organise Issue 5, July 2012 ASU Victorian Private Sector Branch, L1, 117 Capel Street North Melbourne 3051

A lone voice in the wilderness: what happens when you’re the only union member at work?As a union with an occupational coverage, we cover many members who are the only union member, or one of just a handful of members, in their workplace. Although we are all united through the union, we can sometimes feel isolated in our workplace.

So this edition of Organise is dedicated to members in such workplaces. We’ve tried to cover off some issues that may be relevant to you, but if you have other experiences you want to share, please send us an email at ebyrne@asupsvic.org

July 2012 Edition: Authorised and printed by Ingrid Stitt, Branch Secretary ASU Victorian Private Sector Branch, 117 Capel Street North Melbourne 3051

‘Support person’ or Representative?...what are you entitled to?

ASU organisers have often responded to members’ requests for representation at employer meetings, only to be told at the meeting that they are not allowed to speak!

Not all employers know the rules around representation, and others are just disinclined to abide by them, so if you are ever in need of support or representation, it’s important that you know your rights.

As a union member, you have a right to be represented by the union (your organiser or delegate) in meetings with your employer or disputes. The idea that you are only entitled to a ‘support person’ is completely false. You have every right to not only to have your representative attend, but for that representative to speak up and ask questions.

Regardless of your employer’s policy, the Fair Work Act — the federal legislation protecting workers’ rights — provides all workers with the right to be represented by their union.

Section 336 of the Act states that you have a ‘freedom of association’ (to be a member of a union) and that you are

‘free to be represented… by industrial associations’ (a union).

Section 340 provides the teeth to this right. It states that your employer must not take ‘adverse action’ against you because you:

‘exercis[e] a workplace right; or propose… to exercise a workplace right’

Nor may your employer take adverse action against you to prevent you exercising a workplace right.

The important part here is that being represented by your union in meetings with your employer is your workplace right, and that it is against the law for your employer to attempt to prevent you exercising that right.

Furthermore, Section 345 states that your employer must not try to mislead you about your workplace rights or the rights of another person, and that doing so is a contravention of the Act.

So, if you or one of the members at your workplace is ever told that you may not be represented by your delegate or union organiser, invite your employer to consult Sections 336, 340 and 345 of the Fair Work Act. If they persist, your union will be happy to escalate the matter, as we recently have, because every member has a right to union representation and support.

Organising your workplace for an EBAEvery strong workplace in the ASU started out with one member just like you. You may not see yourself as a leader, but having an honest conversation with your colleagues about work and the union might be enough to spark their interest in joining you in the ASU. Remember to listen to what’s important to them – not everyone joins the union for the same reason.

Organising your workplace might be tough, but the ASU has resources to support you. If you’re interested in organising for an EBA to improve things at your work, call the union office. You can also attend our training courses, including “Organising for EBAs”.

In Victoria, private sector wages in all industries rose by 3.4% over the same period.Australian Bureau of Statistics: Ordinary time hourly rates of pay index, excluding penalty rates, allowances, and bonuses.

In private sector administrative and support services, pay rates increased by an average 3.2% from Mar 2011 - Mar 2012.

Can there be better pay without an EBA?

Enterprise bargaining is by far the best way for our members to achieve better pay and conditions at work, but if your workplace isn’t union-organised you probably don’t have an EBA. Your union can help.

Award ratesModern Awards are reviewed each year by Fair Work Australia. The most recent review assigned an increase in minimum wages in modern awards of 2.9%. This is much lower than the average rate achieved in enterprise agreements, and the ASU is extremely concerned about the impact this will have on members earning award rates.

The ASU continually lobbies for improvements to award conditions. Some of our recent successes include maintaining a Clerks (Private Sector) Award so our members were not subjected to the lower conditions of other industry awards, and running the Equal Pay test case through Fair Work Australia to achieve significant pay increases under the SACS award.

If you would like to organise your workplace for an Enterprise Agreement (with conditions above the award) contact the ASU for advice.

Beating the odds in individual negotiationsIf you don’t have the option of enterprise bargaining (perhaps you’re the only employee at your workplace), the union can still help you to improve your conditions. Here are some tips for your next negotiation:• Don’t sign an individual flexibility agreement without

talking to the union. Sometimes these ‘flexibility’ clauses can take away your working rights

• Know your measures of inflation: it pays to do a little research, and look at various measures of the cost of living like CPI and ALCI. You can use these, as well as examples of your successful work, to negotiate for a pay rise.

• Know what others are getting. Recently, employees have been negotiating for pay and entitlements increases of between 3-5% in the private sector.

• Call ASU Assist if you have any concerns about your agreement – our industrial officers know what you should be entitled to

KNOW YOUR NUMBERS:

Recent research has concluded that workplace bullying not only affects the bullying victim, but their colleagues. In fact, the bullying victim’s colleagues may be even more likely to quit their jobs to ‘escape’ the bullying workplace than the victim.

One possible reason for this trend is that colleagues of the bullying victim, viewing the bullying from the outside, may be distanced enough from the experience of bullying to see the injustice with greater clarity and objectivity. That is, a bullying victim is more likely to internalise bullying and view their mistreatment as due to their own failures or worthlessness. A bullying victim’s colleagues can more clearly perceive that the bullying is unjust and unrelated to the victim’s performance.

Bullying victims may also be more fearful of leaving the bullying workplace due to emotional trauma and feelings of helplessness.

These conclusions only underline the importance of collegial support for bullying victims and the need for structural responses to workplace bullying, like through a workplace OHS rep. Bullying victims need the active support and assistance of their colleagues to address a bullying situation, and colleagues of bullied workers need confidence that injustice in the workplace will be genuinely addressed.

The role of a union rep in bullying cases is invaluable, as a representative of all staff and as a quasi-independent voice for structural change in the workplace. Union -organised workplaces are safer and more responsive to bullying, but if you are the only member in your workplace, you can at least be confident that you are personally protected. Signing up your colleagues as union members is a good strategy for mitigating bullying risk in the future.

Increases to Award ratesThe 2012 Annual Wage Review was announced on 1 June. New minimum wages start from the first pay period on or after 1 July 2012. Award wages have increased by 2.9%.

New minimum pay rates for workers covered by the Clerks - Private Sector Award 2010 are listed below. For new pay rates under other awards, check www.fairwork.gov.au/pay/pay-rates-calculator or call the ASU.

Level Year 2011 20121 1 $16.49 $16.97 1 2 $17.31 $17.81 1 3 $17.85 $18.37 2 1 $18.06 $18.58 2 2 $18.39 $18.93 3 a $19.07 $19.63 3 b $19.21 $19.77 4 $20.03 $20.61 5 c $20.84 $21.45 5 d $22.83 $23.49

a. other than call centre principal customer contact specialistb. call centre principal customer contact specialistc. other than call centre technical assistantd. call centre technical assistantClassification descriptions available in Clerks Award at fairwork website. *Weekly rate based on 38 hour week.

From July 1...

Award rates increase from the first pay period after July 1 2012.

check your pay rates!

ASU Contract review serviceHave a question about your employment agreement? Call the ASU on 9320 6700.

Escaping Bullying

2012 weekly rate*$644.86$676.78$698.06$706.04$719.34$745.94$751.26$783.18$815.10$892.62

Workers doing their bit for productivity, but innovation constrained by red tapeOver the past 18 months employer interest groups have been enthusiastically preaching the gospel of productivity, often claiming that workers and their unions—with our outrageous demands for fair pay and respectful workplaces—are making Australia less competitive.

There are many factors that affect productivity, and labour productivity obviously has an enormous impact on the success of a business (we think workers’ wages should better reflect this importance—instead, wages are falling

compared to profits). Other important factors for productivity include infrastructure, organisational design and innovation.

But according to a recent productivity survey by Ernst & Young, the fault of falling labour productivity lies not with workers—who are

highly motivated to do their job professionally—but with their managers, who are underutilising the skills and talents of their staff. Almost 40% of workers surveyed said that they felt underutilised at work.

Australia’s professional workforce is highly skilled and creative, but management are wasting that capacity with red tape and organisational bureaucracy. Workers said that up to 18% of their time at work was wasted on unnecessary tasks assigned to them or waiting for approval from a higher authority. Workers think that simplifying processes, investing in training and technology and utilising workers’ ideas will improve the success of their workplaces.

The survey also found that the most productive workers were those who took longer breaks and spent most of their time on meaningful work. Uninterrupted time spent on leisure and recreation outside work was found to be important to worker productivity.

Bargaining news in brief:

ChubbThe Union is close to finalising a new enterprise agreement with Chubb Security covering cash processing workers in the company’s Victorian operations. But while negotiations continue, Chubb have just announced the closure of their Geelong site which employs a number of ASU members. The decision to close the Geelong site is extremely disappointing for the ASU and its members, one of whom has worked at the site for 28 years. The ASU is working closely with the Geelong Chubb union members to ensure they get all their entitlements and that they are treated fairly in the lead up to the site closure.

Toll Toll has recently significantly increased its market share in cash transport, winning part of a Westpac contract that will see the company significantly expand its eastern coast operations. The ASU has been in talks with the company at the national level, and Toll have agreed to negotiate a new national agreement for their employees so that new staff will have easy access to union membership and a union-negotiated agreement.

Productivity: a ratio of production output to what is required to produce it (inputs).

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