Decipha EA negotiations stalled
CWU negotiators met with management last week. Prior to that we had not met for several weeks because the Post bean counters were costing our claims. But the real problem is that the deal proposed by management leaves Decipha workers worse off than under the new relevant award.
By law, any worker covered by an enterprise agreement must be “better off overall” than under the award.
Vulnerable workers, such as, part-time workers starting work at 4.00am will be most at risk of being worse off. The deal proposed by Decipha provides for only a 15% penalty for work between 4.00am and 6.00am compared to higher penalties under the award.
A detailed analysis by the union of Decipha management’s proposed deal indicated it was too close to call, if not, clearly in breach of that test. The proposed deal has a higher hourly base rate but pays significantly less penalty rates when compared to the award.
The union would not be doing its job if it reached an agreement that did not really stack up in terms of workers “better off overall”, let alone left workers at risk of being worse off than under the award.
Hardworking Decipha workers deserve an agreement that leaves them better off than they would be under the award. CWU negotiators are due to met with management later next week.
