By Ray Fulcher
MELBOURNE — An agency bargaining deal between the Department of Social Security and the Public Sector Union will not go ahead following a decision by the PSU National Delegates Committee (NDC) to withdraw from discussions and "seek no further negotiations with the department on this subject".
The NDC meeting of May 31 heard a report from negotiators that management had placed back on the agenda a number of onerous requirements, such as extended opening hours, which had previously been flatly rejected by PSU members. DSS also wanted almost immediately to do away with 200 jobs from the network by eliminating hardware controller (computer function) positions.
In exchange, the department was offering a 1% pay increase on signing the deal and a further 2% in 12 months. DSS offices are already at crisis point through under-staffing and lack of resources. Reflecting this fact, the NDC resolved to begin a nationwide campaign for more staff and resources.
"Management was clearly not negotiating in good faith", according to Victoria's NDC delegate, Bill Kitchen.
Chair of the Victorian delegates committee Derek McPherson said, "Any pay rise flowing from an agency agreement, even the derisory offer of 1% then 2% in 12 months, would be unfunded and could therefore only be paid for by further staff cuts; that's the position of the Victorian delegates".
DSS management and PSU officials have been trying to force an agency bargain on DSS staff for over 18 months. A concerted effort by those opposed to agency bargaining and the fact that the deals offered were patently not in the interest of staff has made it impossible to impose an agency bargain in DSS to date.
This latest setback to the officials' plans means that DSS members can now focus their attention on the more pressing issues of staffing levels and resources. It still leaves unanswered, however, the question of maintaining and improving wages.
One option, not favoured by the current officials, is to take the whole question of agency bargaining back to members in December, when the current Public Service-wide agreement is due for review. From there members could decide whether they wanted to continue down the agency bargaining track or opt for service-wide setting of wages and conditions — without trade-offs.
[Ray Fulcher is a Victorian delegate in DSS and PSU National Challenge candidate for assistant national secretary in the current PSU elections.]