United magazine Summer 2016
The official journal of the United Services Union: Well members, I don’t know about you but I am wondering how we got to the end of 2016 so fast! What a year it has been! The USU has been at the forefront of many campaigns and on many counts we are winning.
The official journal of the United Services Union: Well members, I don’t know about you but I am wondering how we got to the end of 2016 so fast!
What a year it has been! The USU has been at the forefront of many campaigns and on many counts we are winning.
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Jobs protected at am<br />
As we approach the end of <strong>2016</strong> we await a decision on a significant number of Councils initially<br />
named by the Baird Government for amalgamation, which were set aside. USU Manager North<br />
Stephen Hughes looks at the amalgamation process and the protection available for USU members.<br />
Court action by many of those<br />
Councils has initially delayed<br />
the process however almost all of<br />
the cases have now been heard, with<br />
most cases lodged by the Councils<br />
lost.<br />
The court challenges seem to<br />
have only delayed the proposed<br />
amalgamations temporarily, but are<br />
not likely to have stopped it.<br />
The USU was always of the view<br />
that the Government could legally<br />
carry out forced amalgamations<br />
under existing legislation, provided<br />
it complied with the processes<br />
needed to carry it out first.<br />
Amalgamations in NSW do not<br />
require the backing of a majority<br />
of both houses of parliament and<br />
regardless of what the community<br />
feels, the Government has the<br />
power under current legislation<br />
to proclaim new merged Councils<br />
after going through some form of<br />
community consultation which is<br />
what happened earlier this year.<br />
Your voice<br />
The decision by the USU to<br />
participate on the Ministerial<br />
Advisory Group meetings and the<br />
Employment Matters Working Party,<br />
has ensured that we have access to<br />
information and input at a peak<br />
level in seeking to protect the best<br />
interests of our many thousands<br />
of members in the current<br />
amalgamated Councils, as well as<br />
those awaiting a final decision.<br />
With regular meetings of the<br />
Office of Local Government,<br />
Department of Premier and Cabinet,<br />
and LGNSW, we have been able to<br />
head off many potential problems<br />
and quickly address most others<br />
whenever they occurred with a<br />
couple of exceptions caused by<br />
recalcitrant Councils, whom we<br />
have, and will continue to refer<br />
to the NSW Industrial Relations<br />
Commission.<br />
<br />
It is vital that<br />
members BE<br />
CAREFUL ABOUT<br />
WHAT THEY SIGN or<br />
agree to as merged<br />
councils adopt<br />
new organisational<br />
structures.<br />
We have recently written to<br />
every USU member working at<br />
merged Councils advising them to<br />
be careful about what they sign or<br />
agree to regarding their position and<br />
conditions and entitlements at their<br />
Council.<br />
We have also warned nonmembers<br />
of the risks that they will<br />
face alone, should they not join<br />
before they encounter any problems.<br />
Merged Councils have, or are<br />
in the process of adopting new<br />
organisational structures, and where<br />
necessary, position descriptions.<br />
We believe that the vast majority<br />
of staff should be unaffected in this<br />
initial process and should merely<br />
be transferred directly to a position<br />
in the new Council that is the<br />
same, or almost the same, when it<br />
comes to duties under the position<br />
description.<br />
Employment Protections<br />
Section 354 D of the employment<br />
protections provides that, for other<br />
than a Senior Staff member, (as<br />
defined by the Act, being in general,<br />
General Managers and Directors<br />
etc.) upon transfer, the employee<br />
continues on the same terms and<br />
conditions that applied to the staff<br />
member immediately before the<br />
transfer day.<br />
In the vast majority of cases,<br />
the only thing likely to change on<br />
transfer is the reporting line (who<br />
staff report to). All other conditions<br />
should remain unchanged.<br />
However members should be<br />
vigilant in regard to anything put<br />
to them requiring their agreement,<br />
or signature, to ensure they are not<br />
agreeing to anything that can alter<br />
their existing conditions to their<br />
detriment.<br />
What if my job disappears?<br />
For a small minority of workers at<br />
merged Councils, their position may<br />
no longer exist in the structure.<br />
An example would be a Personal<br />
Assistant to a General Manager<br />
or Director whose position was<br />
removed from the structure of the<br />
new Council.<br />
In those cases the Council should<br />
discuss with the affected employee/s<br />
and their Union (if a member)<br />
alternatives such as redeployment<br />
to an agreed suitable position, or<br />
8 • <strong>United</strong> <strong>Summer</strong> <strong>2016</strong>