Bitter dispute in employment department

Issue 

BY ANDREW HALL

CANBERRA — Certified agreement negotiations in the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR), finalised with an all-staff vote on 18 December, were bitter and protracted. Department secretary Dr Peter Boxall, a Chicago University economist, aggressively promoted Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs or individual contracts) over collective bargaining.

If achieved, such a "cultural change" will presumably be used by the department's minister, the rabidly anti-union Tony Abbott, as an example to other Australian workplaces.

Boxall's strategy included: slamming the supposedly "inflexible" collectively bargained agreement while promoting "flexible" AWAs; stalling certified agreement negotiations; and offering incentives for workers to sign individual agreements.

AWA pay rises will be backdated, but Boxall is adamant that backdating certified pay rises is against government policy and won't occur. Among some workers, those on AWAs will receive more frequent family reunion travel funding than those employed on certified agreements. This "some are more equal than others" attitude reveals the hypocrisy of DEWR's "family friendly" rhetoric.

In the face of such employer militancy, the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU), the staff negotiation team and union members fought a hard campaign, including a half-day strike on October 23, to protect conditions such as older workers' redundancy provisions and access to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission.

The final certified agreement offer was endorsed by 69% of staff. It maintains most conditions, excepting the remote localities assistance for new staff in Darwin, Townsville and Cairns (and a five-year sunset clause for existing staff) and the travel allowance, which will be replaced by a card system. The two-year agreement includes a modest pay rise of 3.25% on December 20, and 3.5% 12 months later.

Unionists in DEWR told Green Left Weekly: "Management has been pushed as [back] far as possible on improvements to conditions and pay in this certified agreement round, following a first round resulting in a 90% "no" vote. It seems that the latest certified agreement draft is the best achievable under the Boxall regime. A "no" vote would have played into management's hands, facilitating a further drift to AWAs while negotiations recommence."

When he was secretary of the Department of Finance and Administration, Boxall's strategy resulted in the 1999 collapse of workers' collective certified agreement, caused by most workers being enticed into individual agreements and the CPSU being refused negotiations to update it.

From Green Left Weekly, January 15, 2003.
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