S E A R C H

Tel: 02 9290 1555 or 1800 467 932 for non-Sydney zone
Email: psa@psa.asn.au
Fax: 02 9262 1623
Post: GPO Box 3365,
Sydney NSW 2001 Location: 160 Clarence St, Sydney NSW

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PSA Campaign Bulletin

State Water Bargaining Update 1

24 October 2007

Member Endorsement of the PSA Position Paper

The PSA has been running meetings across the state, giving you the chance to vote on your union position paper. The paper was formulated from your survey responses we as well as from the feedback you gave your PSA workplace representative.

PSA Position Paper -Your union - Your say

Meetings have recently been held in various State Water workplaces across the state including Leeton, Deniliquin, Hay, Moree, and Parramatta.

Others have had their vote via email. If you are a member and have not yet had the chance to vote on the position paper contact PSA Organiser Jim Tosh on jtosh@psa.asn.au . You can view the position paper by visiting the PSA website at http://psa.labor.net.au/campaigns/1191908688_547.html

Bargaining Surveys - Protection of current conditions

The most common issue members raised in the survey was the maintenance of conditions. Most people were happy with the majority of State Water conditions of employment and wanted to ensure those conditions were protected from the impact of the Howard Government's WorkChoices legislation. This is why the PSA's position paper states that conditions of employment for state water corporation employees shall be provided for within either a NSW Enterprise Agreement, or a common law deed.

Our preference, and the stated position of State Water, is to continue to have your conditions contained within a NSW instrument. However, if this is not possible then the PSA is opposed to having your conditions contained within a Federal Agreement and as such, we believe that a common law deed will help protect you from the worst effects of Howard's Industrial Relations Reforms.

This is because the Howard Government has expressly prohibited the inclusion of certain conditions from being in a Federal Agreement. On the other hand a state agreement or a common law deed can be comprehensive and can contain those protections disallowed in a federal agreement by WorkChoices. Some of this prohibited content includes - but is not limited to:

conversion from casual employment to another type of employment;
trade union rights of entry or training leave;
renegotiation of a workplace agreement;
restriction on the engagement of independent contractors and requirements relating to the conditions of their engagement;
the foregoing of annual leave;
restrictions on the engagement of labour hire workers; and
maximum or minimum hours of work for regular part-time employees.
Improved protections against unfair dismissal in the federal jurisdiction.

The Howard Government may add to the above list at any time through amendments to the regulations. Such changes or additions do not require senate approval.

Staff Recognition

Staff felt there was a need for management to pay more recognition to the contributions staff made State Water through hard work and skill expertise.

This recognition should come through:

A fair pay increase
Proper recompense for additional duties, workload and responsibilities which have come about as a result of the recent freeze of filling vacant positions; and
Regular and easy access to request a review of one's position description and/or a job re-evaluation

Your PSA SWAT members

If you have any questions about the bargaining process, or want to be more involved, don't hesitate to contact your PSA SWAT representatives on the details below.

PSA State Water Agreement Team (SWAT)

Name Location Position Phone Email
Brian Ward Leeton PSA SW Rep 6953 0769 brian.ward@statewater.com.au

Graeme Hind Hume Dam PSA SW Rep 6026 4320 graeme.hind@statewater.com.au

John Alcock Parramatta PSA SW Rep 9354 1061 john.alcock@statewater.com.au

Tim Budd Tamworth PSA SW Rep 6764 5976 tim.budd@statewater.com.au

Rose Rees Dubbo PSA SW Rep 6841 2060 rose.rees@statewater.com.au

Maria Cirillo Sydney PSA Industrial Officer 9220 0975 mcirillo@psa.asn.au

Back Ups

Tony McGrath Narrabri PSA SW Rep 6799 6642 tony.mcgrath@statewater.com.au

Ron Walker Burrendong PSA SW Rep 6846 7401 ron.walker@statewater.com.au

Bruce Hindmarsh Parrmatta PSA SW Rep 9354 1051 bruce.hindmarsh@statewater.com.au

Andrew Harrison Glennies Creek PSA SW Rep 6953 0713 andrew.harrison@statewater.com.au

Previous PSA Position Paper - Enterprise Bargaining in State Water Corporation

Contact Details
Maria Cirillo Industrial Officer
Ph: 02 9220 0929

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