DOWNLOAD THIS UPDATE AS A PDF FOR YOUR WORKPLACE NOTICEBOARD

A mass meeting attended by over 350 DHHS members today voted overwhelmingly to support the proposed HACSU EBA and to support a YES VOTE in formal EBA postal ballot which will commence next week.

The proposed new EBA maintains our entitlements, adds a range of new benefits and will lock in all elements of our Settlement Agreement to provide 8 years of security following the government’s announcement to contract out most of DHHS disability services. The EBA includes many clauses protecting job security, our 29% pay increase over 8 years, up to $15,000 in transfer payments, agreed VDPs and the $2,000 sign-on bonus.

Members at the meeting received a detailed briefing on the proposed new agreement, followed by a question and answer session.

HACSU State Secretary, Lloyd Williams, in his opening speech applauded the long and determined campaign by members and staff.

"We have achieved good outcomes on our future job security and wages because members campaigned hard for two and a half years. It was the collective strength of our union that won the 8 years of protection in the transfer process, the best outcome in Australia as states move to contract out services under the NDIS," Lloyd Williams said.

All DHHS members should receive a summary of the EBA clauses in the mail in the next few days, and a copy of the full EBA has now been made available on the DHHS intranet or in the HACSU website member area.

The formal postal ballot to approve the EBA is being run by the Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) and will be mailed out to all DHHS employees on May 3rd, with ballot papers arriving in letterboxes in the immediate days after this. 

To VOTE YES you must write YES in the box. 

The ballot closes on Wednesday 23/05, which means members need to return their completed ballot by Friday 18/05 (at the very latest) to ensure it gets to the VEC on time. 

If the YES VOTE is successful the second $1,000 (pro-rata for part time and casuals) will be paid in the next pay period and another 3.5% wage rise will flow from 1 July this year.

You can catch up on the slides from the meeting by downloading the from the members portal area here.