Parliament House resolutions of 22 September

The following motions were passed at a general meeting of Parliament House PSA members on 22 September.

Motion 1:

This meeting of PSA members believes that Parliament House has been treated inequitably with regard to the budget cuts.

Whilst it is true that a 1% global saving target has been applied across all Government departments, the budgets cuts to Parliament appear to exceed the expected amount of $300 thousand.

The $1.44 million figure consists of
$572 000 1 % global savings target
$496 000 budget shortfall of 2005/06 and
$372 000 rejection of projected budget increase.

These figures appear to show that the global savings target is almost 2% not the 1% being applied to other departments.

This meeting of PSA members demands an explanation as to why the figure is $572, 000 and not $300, 000.

Furthermore, this meeting believes that Treasury's refusal to fund last year's budget shortfall of $496,000 amounts to a refusal to pay for services already received.

As such, we urge the Treasurer to consider paying the shortfall for last year's budget and provide an explanation as to why the global savings target appears to be greater than 1%.

Motion 2:

This meeting of PSA members believe that it is imperative that management consult with the PSA in good faith.

The PSA will not tolerate any proposal being implemented without our agreement.

The PSA demands that Parliament takes action to ensure that no staff member feels pressured into taking a redundancy.

We also demand that Parliament takes steps to ensure that discussions around proposals are handled appropriately.

This means that all relevant staff are advised that proposals are not finalised until the consultative processes are met and that people occupying positions identified as redundant have a number of options available to them and will not be forcibly retrenched.

The PSA also demands that action be taken to ensure that managers do not fail to advise staff that proposals are not final and that there are a number of options available to potentially displaced staff members.

Where there is a breach of the above the PSA will see this as a breakdown of negotiations and all bans endorsed at the general meeting held on the 13th of September will be put in place.

Motion 3:

This meeting of PSA members recognises that our bans have caused inconvenience and disruption to Members of Parliament.

The PSA campaign is designed to highlight the services and support work provided by staff at Parliament House.

We urge our supporters to continue to be patient and to recognise that their respect for our bans is critical to the success of our campaign.

Delegates Contact

Chris Papadopoulos (x2521) LA Committee
Cathy Nunn (x 2456) LC Procedure Office
Ian Faulks (x 2843, 0413 028 132) LA Committee
Lesley Gruit (x2301 0417064246) President's Office
Denise Byrne (x2288) Library
Dominika Rajewski (x 2204) LC Ian Cohen's office
Grant Sheen (x2013) Engineering
Jason Capper (x2600) Security Services
Jeff Page (x2440) Assembly Procedure Office

Previous bulletin: Parliament Building Services restructure