ARTC SCOPE APPLICATION AND ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT UPDATE

Bulletin: 7.20

On Tuesday, the Fair Work Commission handed down its decision in our scope order application. Unfortunately the Commission sided with the company and denied workers the opportunity to fairly bargain with ARTC for an agreement that properly covers their classification.

Although these applications rarely succeed due to the wording in the Fair Work Act, it is a pity that ARTC did not attempt to engage during the process despite a clear desire from its workforce to bargain in the way that the scope order application sought. It must be remembered that this is a choice that ARTC have made – to continue to bargain with the broader group as opposed to looking after the interests of the different sections of its workforce.

Yesterday we found out that the vote that took place last September was successful at 69% YES to 31% NO. This result is binding and the Agreement will now head to the Commission for approval.

We will continue to agitate for fair bargaining throughout the life of this Agreement and will not allow ARTC to believe that the current situation is OK, it’s not.

The Commission’s approval process has changed since your last EA was approved with more emphasis is placed on making sure agreements meets legislative requirements. We will not be surprised if this process takes an extended period of time due to the poor wording and bizarre format of the Agreement. Be assured that we will ensure ARTC are held to account during this process.

If you have any problems with the Agreement as it stands that we need to know about before it heads to the Commission, please get in contact with us by emailing nswho@rtbu-nsw.asn.au or by phone (02) 9264 2511.

Issued and Authorised by:

Alex Claassens

Branch Secretary

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