TECHNICAL AND SERVICES BRANCH WEEKLY BULLETIN 2023
Number
32
03 September 2023
AUS PUBLIC SERVICE - UNIONS PRESS EBA NEGOTIATIONS
Bargaining for a new EBA for the Cth Public Service has resumed with a number of issues being discussed. The latest pay offer from the APS was for a 3 year EBA with the following increases:
Year First Offer Second Offer
Year 1 4.0% 4.0%
Year 2 3.5% 3.8%
Year 3 3.0% 3.4%
10.5% 11.2%
POLITICIANS GET PAY RISE
The Remuneration Tribunal sets pay rises for federal parliamentarians. This year it is 4%. It follows 2.75% lst year and 0% in the previous 2 years.
CWU LEAVE ARRANGEMENTS
Sur Riley will be on leave for the next 4 weeks.
John Ellery will fill in during this time. Emails to JEllery@cwu.asn.au
OUR CHANGING TELECOM WORLD
SUBCO announced today that it is ready to begin construction on a new transcontinental submarine cable that will connect Sydney, Melbourne (Torquay), Adelaide and Perth (S-M-A-P). Referred to as SMAP, the new 5,000km cable system will be built by Alcatel Submarine Networks and installed by Optic Marine Systems, and it marks the first stage of construction of HyperOne, Australia's first national fibre backhaul network. See SUBCO -
New SMAP for the press release.
POST TO GET 6% PAY RISE
Post has confirmed the CPI based pay rise (doubling the EBA increase) in a memo to staff. It said (in part):
Following the agreement we reached in 2022 and in line with the Australia Post Enterprise Agreement(EBA), you are scheduled to receive a pay increase of 3% this year. I'm pleased to share that we have reviewed this increase in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rise over the twelve months to the June 2023 quarter, and we will pass on a higher discretionary increase to you to align with CPI. This is a one-off increase and is not incorporated into the terms of the EBA.
You will receive a pay increase of 6% in the first full pay period in September
JOINING CWU DISCUSSION
Our item last week about members joining when they have a problem provoked some varied views. For example:
Upsetting to read about the non-member with a problem, joins the union gets support to resolve then resigns, unprincipled behaviour. I support the proposal to pay 12 months fees upfront for future occurrences.
As a person that is always trying to encourage others to join I can assure you that paying a year up from will discourage people from joining. We should even consider short term memberships to have more eligible members during EA negotiations. If someone joins and brings a workplace issue, that's ok in my opinion. They are more likely to stay than leave.
NBN JOB ADVERTISEMENT
Build your Career and Australia's Digital Future
Join the Field Service team - our professional, trusted, and essential customer-facing workforce. Become one of the friendly faces, confident voices and skilled hands working on our network and in communities every day. We have opportunities right across metro and regional Australia.
Customer Field Technician Traineeship: Our 12-month traineeship program gives you the skills, tools and support you need for a long lasting career in telecommunications.
Connecting Women to Telco: We're supporting more women to join telecommunications with dedicated pathways into STEM careers via our traineeship program.
Connecting First Nations to Telco: We're committed to creating more professional development and employment opportunities for First Nations peoples with dedicated traineeship pathways.
Customer Field Technicians & Senior Field Technicians: Bring your field experience to with opportunities to work with customers and on the network throughout metro and regional Australia.
Field Area Managers: Lead our field teams to deliver brilliant outcomes for customers across Australia.
See locations and jobs at
Careers NBN
ESTA REVIEW
The Vic Dept of Justice and Community Safety has advised of proposed legislation which will, among other things, change the name from ESTA to Triple Zero Victoria. Sue Riley represents our members and we will be monitoring the developments to ensure job security and ongoing benefits. Their letter to us stated (in part):
Under the legislation, Triple Zero Victoria will be led by a new board, which will be supported by an Operational Committee that draws on expertise from across the emergency services sector including members of ambulance, police, fire and state emergency services.
The legislation supports the organisation in focusing on core service delivery, call taking, dispatch and operational communications services and will embedding robust partnerships across the emergency services sector. The legislation will strengthen the governance, accountability and oversight of Victoria's triple zero service, delivering on the Government's
commitment for a stronger, more resilient call-taking and dispatch service.
While these reforms are under way, ESTA will continue to prioritise service delivery to make sure Victorians calling triple zero get the help they need, when they need it. The highly skilled ESTA workforce will transfer to Triple Zero Victoria on the same terms and conditions they are employed under today to help ensure the seamless continuity of service delivery to the community which includes the current enterprise agreements continuing to apply. This includes any accrued entitlement to benefits such as annual and long service leave. I do not anticipate that this Bill will impact upon the industrial environment at ESTA
AUS POST LOSSES
The following are extracts from the NEWDAILY online reports.
Australia Post risks being a burden on taxpayers unless its loss-making letter delivery business is reformed, leading experts warn.
The government-owned postie unveiled a confronting $200 million pre-tax loss for the past financial year on Thursday, with chief executive Paul Graham saying the worst is yet to come unless the federal government pushes ahead with an urgent modernisation of the company.
"Without this [government] support, the FY23 loss will be followed by many more," he said. "Inaction could result in a greatly devalued Australian asset."
The culprit for Australia Post's eye-watering loss - only its second since 1989 - is its letters business, which rose more than 50 per cent to $384 million over the past financial year. It was enough to drag down the performance of the flagship parcels business, which had sales rise to $7.3 billion amid ongoing investments in faster deliveries across major capital cities.
Dr Macau said that without changes to the frequency of letter deliveries and changes to the way the letter service is priced, Australia Post risks becoming a financial burden on taxpayers. "They don't have the ability to change the price of letters as they wish, and regardless of cost they have to deliver at a very high frequency at a very low price," he said.
"It's about finding an equilibrium where they deliver letters, but not every day, and where they have a post office near the community, but not 2.5 kilometres near every community."
Authorised by Dan Dwyer Secretary
- CWU Telecommunications & Services Branches.
