By Michelle Armstrong
CANBERRA — The Community and Public Sector Union's ACT government section held regional membership meetings on June 10 to prepare for a campaign to replace the current enterprise agreement. The agreement runs out at the end of September.
According to the section secretary, Tim Gooden, the ACT government intends to use the negotiations to cut conditions and jobs. "The Liberal government will try to get as many as 50 separate enterprise agreements in order to divide up the work force, making it easier to remove conditions and keep pay increases to a minimum. At the same time, the government has initiated huge funding cuts, including the removal of another $10 million from the ACTION bus service", Gooden told Green Left Weekly.
Around 300 members attended the meetings and unanimously endorsed the "central claims" of the CPSU's proposed replacement agreement. These include: no forced redundancies, a single "whole of service" agreement, no privatisation or out-sourcing, and budget-funded salary increases. The union's proposed replacement agreement was sent to the government on June 15.
Gooden explained that "this will be a long campaign. The traditional tactic used by the government is to stall negotiations until the current agreement has runs out, while threatening the community with cuts to services unless workers accept wage cuts." He told Green Left he is confident that CPSU members can defeat any attempt by the Carnell government to cuts wages and conditions.
Further meetings will be called in July to consider the government's response to the union's replacement agreement.