Work bans lifted - after assistance from the Industrial Relations Commission

The PSA reported to members in DET/TAFE last Friday’s Industrial Bulletin that we had written to the Department to urgently resolve a number of issues in dispute. (See letter of demand dated 13 February attached below).

We had advised the Department that if we had not received a satisfactory response by 5pm Monday 16 February, PSA members in DET/TAFE would be undertaking work bans commencing from Tuesday 17 February.

Once the Department was notified of this by PSA Industrial staff, the Department immediately lodged a dispute with the Industrial Relations Commission (IRC). This was listed for a Compulsory Conference before Justice Schmidt at 11.00am Monday 16 February.

The Department sought the urgent assistance of the IRC "to have the industrial action and bans lifted." The PSA submitted to Justice Schmidt that the Department had failed to provide the union with all details regarding the proposed restructure e.g. old and new organisational charts, lack of an agreed Job Evaluation process, concerns about the timeframe, OH&S obligations potentially resulting in work overload (see letter for more details).

Justice Schmidt expressed concern that the PSA was threatening industrial action and that she did not feel that the dispute resolution procedures were properly followed by the union. The Association however pointed out that by writing to the Department that we had offered to meet urgently to resolve our areas of dispute, however the Department chose to lodge a dispute in the IRC. Her Honour also made it clear she had no hesitation to recommend to the union that industrial action should not proceed.

Justice Schmidt told the PSA and the Department to immediately confer while at the IRC and to report back to her on any progress. Her Honour also offered that if the parties reached an impasse she would preside over a Conciliation Conference. As the parties could not agree a Conciliation Conference occurred.

As a result of the Conciliation Conference the following agreed outcomes were put on record. At the time of writing the transcript regarding the agreed outcomes was unavailable, the following points are a summary of the outcomes of the Conciliation Conference.

• The parties agreed to meet with the Public Employment Office to discuss the PSA's involvement in the job evaluation process in DET/TAFE in accordance with the Premier's Guidelines.
• Continue discussions between the parties to further progress consultation/negotiations regarding the proposed structure of DET/TAFE. That would include providing information on the old and new structures, number of proposed positions from the old to the new structures, number of jobs deleted, position locations and job evaluation outcomes.
• That there be two rounds of expressions of interest for voluntary redundancy. The second being after the above two points are finalised.
• That the PSA will recommend to its members that the bans not be implemented.
• That the matter be re listed for report back to Justice Schmidt on the morning of 25 February.

After many months of frustrating consultations with the Department on these outstanding issues the PSA has achieved a positive outcome with the Commission's assistance. Finally the Department has had to acknowledge that the PSA has a role to fulfill regarding the job evaluation process and the Department, like every other NSW Department or Authority, needs to comply with Premiers Department guidelines.

It appeared that the Commission understood the unions concerns regarding lack of details provided by the Department thus far to the PSA. Point 2 now commits the Department to disclose all the details of the proposed new structures. This has not been forthcoming previously.

The other areas of dispute as per our letter dated 13 February will be dealt with as part of the consultation/negotiation process and there will be a report-back to the Commission on 25 February.

The Association was successful in arguing that the Department needs to have two rounds of expression of interest for voluntary redundancy, as we were concerned about the Department's timeframe and the inability for members to make informed decisions about the future job prospects. As the Departments timeframe stood with Expression for Interest of Voluntary Redundancy closing in the week of 16 February and with offers beginning the week of 8 March, not all relevant details would at that stage be available for a member to make an informed decision.

Considering the progress made today with the Commissions assistance the Association agreed not to implement industrial action starting from Tuesday 17 February so as to allow further conciliation/negotiation of the above matters with DET/TAFE.

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Att: PSA Organiser , Adela Lyle (DET) or Troy Wright (TAFE) on 9290 1555

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Letter to the Department 13 February on bans and outstanding claims

Mr Peter Riordan
Director, Industrial Relations
Department of Education and Training
35 Bridge Street
Sydney NSW 2000

Dear Mr Riordan,

Re: Industrial Bans relating to Lifelong Learning and the Corporate Services Review

The Association is writing due to the lack of progress made in negotiations with the Department around Lifelong Learning and the Corporate Services Review (the restructure).

The Association has been meeting with the Department since the announcement by the Department of Education and Training of Lifelong Learning and the Corporate Services Review. In these meetings with the Department the Association has said that it is opposed to the 1,100 job cuts in the Department of Education and Training and TAFE. Despite many attempts by the Association to successfully negotiate with the Department industrial issues that are related to the restructure there are still a large number of issues of concern unresolved.

They include:

1. The impact the restructure has on the Occupational Health and Safety of its members affected by the restructure. The Association is not satisfied that the Department has done anything to address its obligations under the Occupational Health and Safety Act despite this being raised by the Association in the Industrial Relations Commission and Justice Schmidt agreeing that this was a matter of concern.

   At the meeting of 11 February held between the Association and the Department this was raised again. Specifically the Association asked what was the Department doing to ensure that its managers are ensuring that staff are not being affected by excessive workloads as a result of the restructure, and particularly what risk assessments have been carried out by the Department. The Department could not satisfactorily answer this.

2. Many statement of duties/position descriptions have been/are being changed as a result of the restructure. The Department has not complied with either the Premiers Guidelines nor their own Managing Displaced Employees Policy. In particular there has not been any involvement with the Association in the development of work design or job evaluation for positions effected by the restructure. Therefore the Association has been unable to protect the interests of our members regarding the appropriate levels of remuneration for all positions effected by the restructure.

   The Association is concerned that DET has not complied with the Direct Appoint Phase (Phase 1) of the MDEP which required that the criteria for direct appointments would be that the position must either be the same or similar to that of the officer's previous position. The Association has evidence that proves that a number of appointments have been inappropriately made where the jobs have been substantively different in function and therefore it is questionable whether the appropriate grading has been given to the position. The Association is also aware that employees have not been directly appointed even though the position description and function has not changed substantively.

3. Mobility of employees between the Department of Education and Training and TAFE has been pursued by the Association since 1998 and has become an extremely urgent matter that must resolved prior to the implentation of the restructure progressing any further.

4. While there is an Appeals Process outlined in the Managing Displaced Employees Policy, it can not be accessed at all stages of implementation and is only restricted to one stage of the process. The Association seeks that the Appeals Process be extended to apply to all phases of the restructure.

5. The Association began negotiations with the Department last year regarding job search leave. The Association is seeking that the Managing Displaced Employees Policy provide for 12 weeks job search leave because of the particular circumstances of affected staff in DET/TAFE. The Department has been considering this since the December Commission hearing. To date the Association has not received a response from the Department.

6. The Association still has not received full details of the restructure, in particular how many jobs are to go and from which areas they will be going.

The Association can not see how the Department can continue with its timeline of implementation as advised in its letter dated 18 December 2003 given the significant lack of progress on the above mentioned despite numerous meetings with the Department. The Association is of the strong view that the above matters must be resolved to ensure that fairness and equity is applied throughout the remaining implementation phases. Until this occurs the Association seeks that the implementation of the restructure be suspended.

The Association is frustrated and angry that the Department has failed to properly consider and comply with their industrial obligations to their employees throughout the restructure. Accordingly the Association wishes to advise the Department that its members in the Department of Education and Training and TAFE will be instructed to carry out industrial bans beginning from Tuesday 17 February until the above issues are satisfactorily resolved.

The bans include:

• Ban on the preparing and answering of ministerial and DG correspondence.
• Redirection of phone calls to the DG's office by district offices and other affected areas.
• Ban on preparation of briefings for new directors, DG and minister.
• Bans on TAFE library fine collection.
• Ban on processing overpayments.
• Absolute priority to SASS staffing over teaching staffing.

Despite this advice the Association is prepared to meet at short notice discuss all areas of dispute. The Association anticipates the Department treats our concerns with the seriousness it deserves. If the Association has not received a satisfactory response from Department by 5pm Monday 16 February the bans will be implemented.

Please contact PSA Industrial Officers Anne Kennelly on 9220 0944 or Sally McManus on 9220 0985 in relation to this matter.

Yours faithfully
ANNE KENNELLY
For: JOHN CAHILL, GENERAL SECRETARY