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EBA 8 BULLETIN NO 10 - 4 JUL 2013

The results are in for the EBA ballot. A clear majority of Australia Post staff have voted to accept the EBA. The following table has the voting breakdown on a state-by-state basis.

		     2013		    2010
		 Voted	Yes%		 Voted	Yes%
  NSW		 7,117	 90%		 6,503	 87%
  QLD		 3,252	 87%		 3,221	 79%
  SA		 1,230	 82%		 1,270	 81%
  TAS		   429	 86%		   420	 91%
  WA		 1,856	 64%		 1,703	 68%
  VIC		 6,209	 51%		 5,874	 51%

  Voted		20,122	 75%		18,991	 73%
  Ballot Papers 31,956
  Rate             63%

Detailed Breakdown - 2013

	 Yes     %	   No 	  %	 Informal	Total
  NSW	6,118  90.12%	   659	 9.71%	   12	  	6,789
  VIC	3,208  51.61%	 3,001	48.28%	    7		6,216
  QLD	2,828  86.78%	   424	13.01%      7		3,259
  WA	1,195  64.32%	   661	35.58%	    2		1,858
  SA	  927  81.67%	   208	18.33%	    0		1,135
  TAS	  414  96.50%	    15	 3.50%	    0		  429
  ACT	  320  93.84%	    20	 5.87%	    1		  341
  NT	   82  86.32%	    13	13.68%	    0		   95
								
  TOT  15,092  75.00%	 5,001	25.00%	   29	       20,122

  Ballot Papers Issued 31,956 Voted 63%

It has to be said that while your national office believed that the deal could have been better, we were able to improve the offer in a number of ways during the negotiations. The final EBA is a vast improvement on what was initially on the table.

This could not have been achieved without your involvement and the clear messages that you gave to Australia Post and your union at all stages during the campaign. This was particularly evident when Post proposed to freeze the FAS.

Under the Fair Work Act, agreements are made between the employer and employees. Unions can then make an application to be bound by the agreement as part of the process.

The agreement will come into effect when approved by Fair Work Australia.

Now that the EBA has been voted on, it is time to focus on continuing to hold Australia Post to account on all issues that affect the hopes, aspirations and well-being of our members. There are serious challenges ahead but with continued engagement with your union, there is nothing that together we cannot overcome.

EBA 8 BULLETIN NO 9 - 14 JUN 2013

EBA8 to proceed to an employee vote

As members will be aware Australia Post has unilaterally decided to close EBA negotiations and proceed to an employee vote.

Under the current Act, EBA agreements are made between employers and employees. If the employer receives a positive vote, your Union will then apply to be covered by the agreement on behalf of its members. This will enable your union to enforce all terms and conditions in the agreement.

The CEPU/CWU has not endorsed the proposed EBA that Post will be putting to an employee ballot from June 20th.

There are a number of concerns with the proposed agreement:

A pay rise of 1.5% this year (plus the lump sum) is not sufficient after two years of 1.5% pay rises, especially when the profits of Post continue to grow. It was part of the last EBA and is not a new payment.

Superannuation has been the subject of much discussion. Members need to be aware that the defined benefit scheme is NOT protected for the lifetime of the agreement. Post refused to include a clause in the EBA which gave us this protection. Clause 41.6 may partially freeze the FAS by capping salary for superannuation purposes.

There are NO guarantees around job security. Post retains the right to make members compulsorily redundant, a term that was first introduced in the last EBA.

The $500 bonus for full time and $250 for part-time workers does not flow into hourly rate or superannuation. It is also subject to tax. Part-timers working de facto full time hours will only receive $250.

All of your claims that were submitted to Post as a result of member surveys have been rejected. Some examples: protection of penalty rates, bullying, annual leave rostering, meal allowances, retail issues, linehaul and use of contractors.

Your Union has concerns surrounding the new productivity clause 45 that could potentially hamstring your Union from ensuring workplace change occurs with the needs of members front and centre. This is another new clause that has been created despite Post's insistence that not one new word be inserted into the EBA.

Your Union is still interested in hearing from members about any questions they have with this EBA. We encourage you to discuss the EBA at your work meetings. Should the ballot be unsuccessful, the CEPU/CWU will continue to pursue an acceptable agreement. In the meantime, the next pay rise will be 1.5% this year in line with the existing agreement.

It will be up to members to decide whether this agreement represents an adequate offer and whether, on balance, it is in their interests to support it despite the concerns we have outlined above.