ARTC NSW Infrastructure Enterprise Agreement Negotiations 2016 – Update #3

Bulletin 47 – 2016

To: All RTBU ARTC Infrastructure Maintenance Members,

Your representatives, the RTBU and ARTC met on Tuesday, 15^th November 2016 to present responses to both parties log of claims provided on Tuesday, 1^st November 2016.

Through our discussions on Tuesday, we only managed to get agreement on a review of the classification structure, commitment to discuss the establishment of consultative committees and the length of the agreement (3 Year Term).

We were presented with a drawn out ‘No’ response to every other claim.

After each response provided by ARTC, the representatives enquired as to what ARTC’s counter position was on all of our claims, considering this is a negotiation. ARTC had no formal counter position and said they would supply their proposal in our next meeting.

The RTBU presented arguments to ARTC’s responses, and provided proposals for Scheduled Career Progression, a Training and Assessment Clause, a Disciplinary Procedure and Matters Clause and a Domestic Violence Leave Clause. ARTC has taken a copy of these proposals for consideration.

The RTBU could not provide responses to ARTC’s log of claims as no particulars were provided.

Our key focus was ARTC’s claim to review the current Rostering clause within your agreement. The RTBU asked ARTC for more information as to what specific items they want to review in the clause. ARTC stated that this information would be supplied in our next meeting.

For your information, the following is ARTC’s responses to your log of claims;

• Increase of 4% per annum to pay, allowances and expenses: ARTC does not support a 4% salary increase to pay, allowances and expenses as it calculates a cost imposition over the proposed three year term of the Agreement to be approximately $3,184,130.

• 3 Year Agreement: ARTC agrees with this claim

• Classification Structure Review: ARTC will engage in discussions regarding a review of the Classification Structure during the bargaining process

• Scheduled Career Progression: ARTC cannot agree to this proposal in relation to progression as it is based on seniority and length of time in the role, rather than any assessment of work complexity/competency. In addition, the proposal is at odds with the Workplace Bargaining Policy 2015 which states that existing pay scales are not to be modified to provide mechanisms to accelerate salary advancement

• Training Plans: ARTC believes that the current arrangements for training and development are managed well at the local level and does not propose to change this process

• Superannuation Increases: ARTC is currently paying in line with the legislation increases, which is 9.5%. The next proposed increase to the Superannuation Guarantee rate is in July 2021 and does not fall within the life of this Agreement.

• Joint and Local Consultative Committees: ARTC will engage in discussions regarding the establishment of Consultative Committees during the bargaining process

• Disciplinary Procedure Clause: ARTC believes disciplinary matters are most appropriately dealt with under ARTC’s Disciplinary Procedure. ARTC does not propose to change this process

• Separate Carer’s Leave and Sick Leave Entitlement: ARTC does not propose to make any changes to the current Personal/Carers or Sick leave clauses

• Domestic Violence Leave Clause: ARTC supports initiatives to assist victims of domestic violence and has already introduced provisions in relation to this in the ARTC Leave Policy

• Agreement Format to move away from Q&A: ARTC are not proposing to change the format of the Agreement. ARTC believes the question and answer format is appropriate and simple to navigate and understand. This is reflected in feedback provided to ARTC from employees.

The negotiations have only just begun, and will continue for some time, however, your negotiating committee considers these responses to your log of claims unacceptable and will continue to fight for your rights.

In all log of claims discussions the professionalism and input from the negotiating committee was crucial in getting across to ARTC the importance of these issues to RTBU members.

They continue to show tremendous unity and knowledge in this bargaining process. You can assist your representatives by providing them with feedback on these communications to support them in any future enterprise agreement negotiation meetings.