MELBOURNE CUP - OFFICE CLOSURE

Our office is in Melbourne and will be closed on Monday 3rd and Tuesday 4th November.

TZV UNIFORMS CASE

The case is set for hearing this Thursday. We will be arguing that NBN cannot change the Control Room Protocols to remove the provision that allows the wearing of casual clothes on weekends. We argue that this forms part of the EBA and cannot be changed by management action. This has been a long running dispute and several mediations failed to resolve the matter.

TZV TRANSLATION DISPUTE

This dispute involves the Ops EBA and the translation of staff from the old structure to the new structure. It involves recognition of part years when translating. This has been before the FWC on two occasions now and has not been resolved. If you have an issue with translation, please contact John Ellery with the details.

NBN REST PERIODS AFTER OVERTIME

We met with NBN last week to discuss the issue of rest periods (10 hours) after overtime. It is a clear OHS issue an exists because of the need to protect your safety. However, the law is set out in our EBA and Under the existing provisions in the EBA, various managers have applied their own interpretation. It becomes a complex dispute. The outcome of the meeting was an agreement to identify various scenarios and then apply the agreement to determine if the dispute remains.
You have a right to refuse even reasonable overtime. See the EBA clause below.

NBN EBA CLAUSE 18 - OVERTIME

(a) An Employee is required to work reasonable overtime subject to the provisions of clause 18.1(b).
(b) An Employee may refuse to work overtime in circumstances where the working of such overtime would result in the Employee working hours which are unreasonable having regard to:
(i) any risk to Employee health and safety;
(ii) the Employee's personal circumstances including any family responsibilities;
(iii) the needs of the workplace or enterprise;
(iv) the notice (if any) given by nbn of the overtime and by the Employee of his or her intention to refuse it; and
(v) any other relevant matter.

TELSTRA HFC REDUNDANCY

The long running dispute over whether HFC staff are potentially redundant was conciliated this week. No agreement was reached. We will now seek arbitration of the matter. The case is being run on behalf of 4 members but there are other members in the same position. We understand that the hearing is likely to be early next year. A directions hearing is needed to set the dates. The core disputes are:
(a) whether a redundancy situation exists and
(b) the understanding of suitable alternative employment.