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Mental Health EBA Done!

2016-10-06

Senior HACSU officials have finalised the high-level agreement with the Victorian Government and Public Hospitals on a new Mental Health EBA.

The agreement has been formally signed-off on by the Government.

The HACSU campaign for better services, staffing and safety has resulted huge improvements for all HACSU members in the public mental health sector.

HACSU acknowledges that the Government and Minister Foley have listened to the concerns raised in our mental health campaign and responded by injecting significant additional mental health resources absent in other EBA outcomes.

All Mental Health ‘Stop Work’ Action is now suspended. However, all other Bans are to continue in order to keep the focus on full finalisation of the new comprehensive agreement for voting by members. 

There are very significant improvements for all members working together in Mental Health - Nurses, Health Professionals, PSO’s, Forensicare Psychologists, Admin and Support Staff and for members with a lived experience now working in mental health as Consumer/Carer Consultants and Peer Workers.

  • Big gains on staffing – 128.8 extra EFT
  • Workload improvement – 60/40 workload management mechanism for community teams
  • Focus on health and safety
  • More common conditions applying to everyone working in together in Mental Health, including 20 days paid Family Violence Leave
  • Wins on wages, classification improvements and conditions:
    • Nurses uplift to NSW parity in 2019
    • Wage uplifts to Health Professionals and Support Staff
    • Extra leave for Health Professionals

The new agreement will deliver major improvements in working conditions and equity between members!

The wage increases are well above national wage increase trends over the next 4 years.

HACSU has refused to sign any Deed that restricts our bargaining into the future. The agreement will have a nominal expiry date of 30 June 2020. 

The additional staffing is a huge win in the campaign toward better services, staffing and safety! Through sustained campaigning, HACSU members have more than doubled what the Government originally offered.

We welcome the many new members who have joined HACSU during the campaign. We cannot emphasise enough the important role HACSU members have played. Every member who participated in the work bans and stop-works are congratulated. 
 
It is HACSU members who have won this.

These fantastic results come from members standing together in solidarity, maintaining the bans, and most importantly, taking part in stop work action. Unfortunately, the Government do not simply hand over a new EBA, it must be fought for by union members taking action. 

Whilst we have now secured a high level agreement on all matters, to ensure the agreement is quickly converted to a comprehensive EBA for members’ endorsement, HACSU is maintaining the current work bans, however all Stop-Work action has been suspended. 

Again, huge congratulations to every member who took part in the action!
 
Click here for more detail on what members have won in the new EBA.