DHHS EBA Campaign update!

The Certainty for Disability DHHS Enterprise Agreement (EA) Campaign stepped up a notch with members in the Ovens Murry and Goulburn Area stopping work and taking to the streets of Wangaratta to protest for a new EA. HACSU Disability workers are demanding an EBA that will improve wages and conditions, but very importantly to protect our future job security, and our existing conditions we have already fought so hard for.

Unlike any campaign before, this time we are faced with the dark cloud of privatisation. This EA must protect our job security and condition to the fullest extent possible.

Work stoppages and protest action is now planned across the state. Members at Colac also stopped work last week in an amazing effort which saw DHHS senior management significantly impacted by the alternative arrangements required to be put in place. It is action like this which will win us these important protections for our wages, conditions and job security!  

Stay tuned for the announcement of the stoppage and protest activity in your area, and make sure you rev up all your colleagues to get involved. All HACSU members can take part in protected stop work action from the nominated area, this includes casual staff.
 

Negotiations continuing but slow

Meetings between HACSU and the DHHS are continuing. Frustratingly the DHHS and Government has been slow to respond in any meaningful way to the issues that HACSU has put on the table to support our claims; these are comprised of claims and clauses covering a range of issues including, NDIS roll-out, comprehensive Colanda closure agreement, job security, redeployment, redundancy, leave and conditions, and workplace violence.

The DHHS responses to date have focused primarily on non-cost process items, they say they are in the process of costing our major claims before responding. As frustrating as it is, we know from past experience that a strong and sustainable campaign will ultimately focus the governments’ attention on a resolution. This is why we are steadily increasing our protected work bans and stop work actions.

This week will see the members’ in the Northern metropolitan area stop work and protest outside the Minister for Women, Fiona Richardson’s electoral office in Northcote and Operations Managers in the East refuse on-call duty over the long weekend.

As in the past, it is clear that members’ campaign activity will be critical in forcing a decent EBA outcome. This outcome must reward members’ for their efforts in supporting people with a disability. HACSU are demanding decent wage outcomes that are no less than other public sector workers. Most importantly this EBA must protect our job security and working conditions from the uncertainty which lies ahead as a result of an underfunded NDIS and the government privatisation agenda. Read the full log of claims here.

We are in for a fight to win, it will take time and member will need to be unified and committed to the campaign ahead.

NDIS issues register

In order to see that HACSU can properly advocate for the entire community, we have established an NDIS issues register this has been designed for anyone to post comments, stories, concerns and questions about the NDIS which we can then take up with Government.

We encourage everyone to please register your issues with us, it is very important that we have examples of where the community is not informed, concerned, or NDIS and privatisation are having a negative impact on the community. This will help us to properly inform government and guide policy development.

To access the issues register, please click here.
 

Important reminder

Please talk to your colleagues about the campaigns! It is critical to the success of the certainty for disability campaign that members are speaking to each other and sharing information.
 
If you or your colleagues are not receiving HACSU emails, please update your details here or contact the HACSU office so we can make sure you are receiving our information.