ACT Government ducks agreement

Joint union negotiations in the Australian Capital Territory for an ACT 
public sector enterprise bargaining agreement have hit a brick wall. On 
October 24 the unions requested an urgent meeting with the Minister for 
Industrial Relations, Simon Corbell, to try to resolve the dispute. The 
Minister requested that no public statement be made until a meeting could 
be arranged, which his office was supposed to do the following day.

The unions agreed to his request. However, late in the afternoon on the 
following day Corbell's office advised the unions that after meeting with 
his advisers the Minister had decided he was "not available" to meet with 
them any time in the following week. Instead, a letter would be sent from 
the Department.

"For a Labor Minister for Industrial Relations to refuse to meet on an 
issue of such importance is an absolute disgrace", said Peter Malone, ACT 
Trades and Labour Council Secretary. "It is a clear indication that the 
Government is choosing to only listen to its bureaucrats rather than the 
ACT workers who voted them into power."

The Joint Unions have requested answers to the following basic issues:

* Why does the Government want to exclude agencies such as ACTION, 
Ambulance Services and all Territory-owned corporations from the EBA?

* What is the salary offer the Government is prepared to make?

* Will the Government agree in principle to wage parity across the ACT 
government sector?

* What date/s is the Government prepared to backdate the first salary 
increase to?

"Each time the joint unions attempt to negotiate a condition, such as wage 
parity or an income protection scheme, the Government line has been that it 
may consider it", said Mr Malone, "but only if the cost of it comes off the 
total salary increase.

"This places the Joint Unions in an impossible position because without 
knowing the size of the salary increase on offer we cannot finalise 
agreement on the other conditions. But if we don't reach agreement on those 
other conditions first then the Government won't tell us how much is on 
offer."

The Joint Unions state that they remain absolutely committed to negotiating 
the Common Core Conditions of the EBA and will continue to sit at the 
bargaining table, but that negotiations cannot move forward until the 
Government provides answers to the basic questions.