Meeting held : 19 June 2008
Chair of Meeting: The Acting President, Comrade Barry Johnson
Location of the meeting : Trades Hall Auditorium, 4 Goulburn St Sydney
UNIONS NSW MEETING MINUTES
MEETING HELD THURSDAY 19th JUNE 2008
IN THE TRADES HALL AUDITORIUM
AT 4 GOULBURN STREET, SYDNEY, AT 6:02 PM
The Acting President Com. B. Johnson occupied the Chair.
PRESENT: - J. Robertson [Secretary] M. Lennon [Assistant Secretary],
C. Christodoulou, (Deputy Assistant Secretary).
OPENING
OF THE
MEETING: The Acting President, Com. B. Johnson opened the meeting by recognising the traditional owners of the land on which the meeting was being held the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation.
DRAWING
OF APHEDA
RAFFLE: The annual APHEDA raffle was drawn by Ms Dacia Bennett, National Relationships Manager, Members Equity Bank.
MINUTES: -
The Secretary, Com. J. Robertson moved: -
"That the minutes as circulated be received".
Com. N. Lewocki seconded.
CARRIED
The Secretary, Com. J. Robertson moved: -
"That the minutes as circulated be adopted".
Com. B. Tubner seconded.
CARRIED
CREDENTIALS
From The NSW Nurses Association appointing: - K. Sullivan in place of B. Holmes.
From The New South Wales Local Government, Clerical, Administrative, Energy, Airlines & Utilities Union appointing:- S. Sewell in place of L. Fraser.
From The Construction Forestry Mining & Energy Union, Construction & General Division, New South Wales Branch appointing:- M. Razaghi in place of P. McClelland.
The Secretary, Com. J. Robertson moved: -
"That the credentials be received and the delegates welcomed".
Com. R. Mallia seconded.
CARRIED
APOLOGIES
Apologies were received and accepted for: - S. Moait, A. Tattersall, A. Kerslake, B. Holmes, J. Kiejda, P. McClelland, G. Dwyer, D. Long, R. Collison, C. Game, J. Diamond, L. Hankinson, C. O'Sheades.
The Secretary, Com. J. Robertson moved: -
"That the apologies be received and accepted".
Com. G. McLean seconded.
CARRIED
EXECUTIVE BUSINESS
CORRESPONDENCE
1. From the Hon. Graham West MP, Minister for Gaming and Racing, Minister for Sport and Recreation:- regarding Unions NSW nominations for the Board of the NSW Lotteries Corporation.
Com. J. Robertson moved the Executive Recommendation:-
"That the correspondence be received and Unions NSW liaise with the relevant unions regarding nominees for the Board of the Lotteries Corporation."
Com. M. Thomson seconded the resolution.
CARRIED
2. From the Construction Forestry Mining & Energy Union, Construction & General Division, New South Wales Branch:- advising Unions NSW that in recent weeks the CFMEU had been contacted by human rights groups campaigning to build solidarity with a group of workers at the Haft Tapeh
Sugar Plant in Iran where over 4000 workers have been on strike for the past three weeks demanding unpaid workers. The CFMEU said that this was a courageous strike as these workers were jeopardising their jobs in a country where millions of people live in poverty as the economic situation deteriorates. They said that these workers had also been physically attacked by Iranian security forces at protest rallies they had organised. The CFMEU requested that Unions NSW forward a letter of solidarity to the Haft Tapeh workers and a letter of protest to the Iranian President.
Com. J. Robertson moved the Executive Recommendation:-
"That the correspondence be received and Unions NSW offer its support to the workers at the Haft Tapeh Sugar Plant in the manner outlined in the correspondence."
Com. Mansour Razaghi seconded and spoke to the resolution.
CARRIED
3. From the Australian Services Union of New South Wales:- advising Unions NSW of three matters impacting on workers in the non-government social and community services industry as a result of the Federal budget. The ASU advised that as of July 1 workers who package some of their salary and were in receipt of Family tax Benefit were at risk of being worse off due to changes in tax arrangements. They said that from July 1 the Australian Tax Office would use the full value packaged salary to assess eligibility for Family Tax Benefit, not the net value as previously used. The union said that unless the Federal Government reversed this decision, hundreds of ASU members would take home less pay. The ASU said that the Federal Government budget had applied a 2% efficiency dividend across government which may be applied across grants to non-government social and community services. The union said that it was essential that social and community service programs be exempted from this savings requirement. They said that if social and community service grants were cut by 2% then programs and jobs would inevitably be affected. The ASU also said that prior to the 2007 federal election, the ALP had given a written commitment to index its non-government grants to keep pace with wage increases and wages are set to increase in NSW by 3.5% from July 1, 2008.
The ASU requested support in the efforts to:
1. Ensure non-government SACS workers are not adversely affected by the change to tax treatment of salary packaging and Family tax benefit;
2. Exempt the 2% efficiency dividend from community sector grants;
3. Ensure the Federal Government index grants by 3.3% to meet the SACS Award wage increase due on July 1 for all community sector workers in NSW.
Com. J. Robertson moved the Executive Recommendation:-
"That the correspondence be received and Unions NSW support ASU social and community services members in their campaign for funding and income security in the manner outlined in the correspondence."
Com. S. McManus seconded the resolution.
CARRIED
4. From the Electrical Trades Union, New South Wales Branch:- advising Unions NSW that the passage of legislation allowing the Auditor General to oversight the proposed sale of the electricity assets would be seen by some as a victory for the privatisation protagonists. However, the contrary is true and the final decision on the sale had now been extended for some three (3) months clearly allowing more time for debate on the issues and for common sense to prevail. The union said that those who support the sale forget one thing; the community at large are opposed to it because they know it is not in the best interests of NSW either in terms of reliability of supply, price stability or addressing the ever growing environmental concerns surrounding the industry. The ETU advised that they would continue to campaign together with other power unions to ensure that the wishes of the community prevail and that the government backs away from its misguided proposal to divest the state of these essential assets.
Com. J. Robertson moved the Executive Recommendation:-
"That the correspondence be received and Unions NSW welcome the ongoing commitment in the correspondence from the ETU to continue the campaign of opposition to the government's electricity sell off proposal."
Com. M. Stylli seconded the resolution.
CARRIED
5. From the Rail Tram and Bus Union, New South Wales Branch:- advising Unions NSW that at a time when public sector employees were being forced to accept 2.5% pay increases unless job cuts were identified to pay for any amount higher, RTBU members were outraged that NSW Members of Parliament had been granted a 4.2% increase in their allowances on top of their 6.7% pay increase. The union said they believed there should be a broader co-ordinated campaign by public sector unions to not only publicly
shame the NSW Labor Government for their double standards, but to organise rallies and public events which demonstrated to the public that cuts to service levels and job losses in the public sector would impact on working families. The RTBU advised that at a time of increasing petrol prices and mortgage stress, there had been an 8% increase in patronage on public transport, whilst at the same time the State Transit Authority was cutting back on off-peak bus services and RailCorp were failing to recruit frontline rail workers to fill the 500 vacancies on City Rail stations. They said that coupled with overtime restrictions and the non-filling of shifts on a daily basis, rail workers cannot believe the NSW Government supports RailCorp's position to eliminate 417 job positions at City Rail stations as the only way rail workers could achieve a 4% pay outcome. The RTBU requested a meeting of Public Sector Unions be convened to discuss if a joint campaign against the NSW Government's 2.5% wage policy could be organised.
Com. J. Robertson moved the Executive Recommendation:-
"That the correspondence be received and a meeting of Public Sector Unions be convened next week to consider the next stage of the wage campaign as requested."
Com. N. Lewocki seconded and spoke to the resolution.
CARRIED
REPORTS
1. National Employment Standards
The Assistant Secretary, Com. M. Lennon reported that the national employment standards had been released this week. Com. Lennon said that in the main the standards were welcomed however there were some problems. He highlighted some differences between the standards and provisions for annual leave and family leave in NSW which would make NSW workers worse off. Com. Lennon raised particular concerns with the provision that allowed workers to cash out annual leave. He said this was contrary to the long standing principle that annual leave was there to allow workers to take a break from work and relax. In closing, Com. Lennon said a meeting of affiliates would be held to discuss the standards in more detail.
Com. J. Robertson moved:-
"That the report be received and noted."
Com. F. Barnes seconded the resolution.
CARRIED
COUNCIL ADJOURNED AT 6:29PM
Acting President:____________________________________
About Unions NSW
