NBN FIELD ENGINEERS

Our T&S Branch held a meeting with NBN this week to consolidate all the issues arising from the issue of new common law contracts.
A number of amendments have been achieved since we threatened taking the matter to the Fair Work Commission.
Importantly, the rise in union membership has given you bargaining power.
We believe that most of the contract matters can be resolved in direct negotiations.
However there are issues which arise from their interpretation of the Award and Enterprise Agreement (EBA). We agreed to disagree with NBN on the EBA matters.
These can be seen at our special NBN FE Web Page
Any member with concerns about a contract already signed or unsigned should call me directly.

NBN NEXT STEPS

While we may have resolved most contracts, issues are likely to arise from application of the EBA. We will take these up.
For the moment our advice is this: record all hours worked, including start and finish times, travel times, computer log in after hours, phone calls made and received.
Please let me know of any incidents where you believe that you have been underpaid.

TELSTRA EBA

Negotiations continued this week with more claims made.

1. An equal wage increase for all employees.
Any fixed remuneration wage outcomes provided by any new Agreement should be provided equally to all employees, regardless of employment mode - including job family.
Fixed and guaranteed pay increases offer stability and certainty to employees and their families. This is starkly different to Telstra's discriminatory approach of linking wage outcomes to metrics and outcomes outside of employee control.
It is inherently unfair that two individual employees can receive inconsistent wage increases having performed the same job to the same standard throughout the year.
Fair and transparent measures for performance ratings to be included in the EA.
Any performance rating system should be conducted according to principles which are clearly defined in the EBA, including:
- The ability to review a rating by the employee;
- Subject to the disputes clause;
- Moderate manager discretion to ensure consistency across the company;
- Targets to account for planned absences and be agreed, measurable and achievable;
- Targets are set quarterly and employees will be provided with a copy of any records or information relied upon during the process; and
- Without objective performance indicators, there is inconsistent evaluation and feedback across different managers and without clear criteria for assessment, individual biases and perceptions invariably influence performance evaluations, leading to unwarranted disparities in ratings and rewards among employees.

2. Higher duties allowance clause.
We are seeking provisions to ensure a higher duties allowance is paid when a job family employee is required to perform duties at a higher level for longer than one day, rather than the current unfair and unreasonable requirement of 20 days.
Additionally, we are seeking that any qualifying period for higher duties allowance should be cumulative and not require continuous or uninterrupted performance of the higher role, to better account for part-time employees and employees performing short, but regular, periods of higher duties.

3. Night shift provisions.
We believe the Agreement should better reflect the working environment for workers performing night shifts and ensure employees performing work during these unsociable hours are appropriately and fairly compensated.
Currently, the Award only provides for a 30% penalty for a permanent night shift, where less than one third of the working time is afternoon or day shift over a shift cycle. This is significantly less beneficial, with 30% penalties only applying where an entire shift falls within 6pm-8am. This allows scheduling of predominately night shift workers with a handful of day shifts for the purpose of avoiding liability for payment of night shift penalties.

At this meeting, Telstra also provided its response to some of our claims raised and tabled at our last meeting:
1. Policy matters to be incorporated into the EBA.
Telstra have rejected this claim, stating that this would lead to increased complexity and reduce flexibility.
2. Fixed term employees to be offered permanent employment.
Telstra have rejected this claim.
3. Working from home to be included in the EA.
Telstra have rejected this claim stating that the current policy is working well.
The Union reiterated its claims that employees are looking for certainty and security when working from home. Many employees have family commitments that are built around their ability to access the working from home provisions and any uncertainty and stress caused by those provisions not being protected by the EBA can be negated by including the policy, amongst the many other policy matters we have sought protection for, within the Agreement.

ACTU: WORKING PEOPLE WIN HIGHER WAGES AND COST-OF-LIVING RELIEF IN BUDGET 2024

The Labor Government's 2024 Budget is a good budget for working people, with wages forecast to rise, commitments to pay increases in the care economy, cost-of-living support on top of the July 1 tax cuts, and a historic commitment to the jobs we need, including manufacturing jobs in Australia, the ACTU said tonight.
The Budget papers confirm that wage growth will be 4% for this financial year, nearly double the average rate of 2.2% under the decade of the Coalition Government.
The ACTU welcomes the commitment by the government to supporting wage increases in the aged care and early learning sectors, and the payment of superannuation on paid parental leave.
The government's decisions and commitments will drive decent wages and continue the momentum to correct the wage stagnation caused by the previous Coalition Government.
The ACTU strongly supports the cost-of-living announcements, including the $300 energy bill relief payment to every household, and an additional 10% increase in Commonwealth Rent Assistance.
The union movement also welcomes the historic Future Made in Australia plan, which is set to create secure manufacturing jobs and develop new industries as part of the government's objective of turning Australia into a clean energy superpower.
The investment in skills is also an important part of strengthening the national economy, and the ACTU welcomes the key announcements of:
- 20,000 new fee-free TAFE and VET places in construction.
- Support for the workers of the future with the introduction of paid placements for Australians studying to be nurses, teachers, and social workers.
- Skilling the Clean Energy and Construction Workforce.
- Additional support for apprentices and trainees.