By Tim Gooden
CANBERRA — On July 1, the Community and Public Sector Union joint national secretary, Wendy Caird, and national assistant secretary, Doug Lilly, travelled to Canberra to inform the ACT branch secretary, Jennifer Eccles, that at least $400,000 was being withdrawn from the branch's funds and that large agencies would now be serviced from the new national office of the union in Canberra.
A branch executive meeting was called the next night and resolved to oppose the cuts and call an extraordinary branch conference for July 20. The bulletin sent to CPSU members states: "The ACT branch budget has been reduced from $2.4 million to $1.6 million — no other branch has received such a funding cut, although other branches do not negotiate certified agreements, as staff in the ACT branch continue to do."
The ACT branch is the second highest contributor of membership dues to the union's national office coffers. Under the new arrangements, the ACT branch will only receive about 46% of membership dues. The bulletin also explains that staff in the ACT branch could face redundancy or compulsory transfer to another branch of the CPSU if the proposal goes ahead. These staff are particularly vulnerable as they do not have a separate union to advocate on their behalf.
Caird has been invited to the branch conference to explain to members why the ACT branch is being singled out for "special" treatment, without any consultation with its members.