Pillar Administration Award and Payrise Update 30 June 2008

Your "Superannuation Administration Corporation (Salaries and Conditions 2004) Award" which contains your conditions of employment was listed by the State Commission for "review". This means that the award was updated in any of its references to policy and legislation. Consequently your relevant industrial instrument is now Superannuation Administration Corporation (Salaries and Conditions 2007) Award.

This award review did not deal with the question of your payrise nor did it alter any of your conditions of employment.

Pillar Administration have been told by the Public Sector Workforce Office (PSWO) that they are subject to the NSW Wages Policy which essentially prohibits them from talking to us until they have developed "negotiating parameters" which then requires approval at several levels.

The PSA has long held concerns with both the process and content of the NSW Wages Policy which restricts your employer's ability to negotiate freely and directly with your union. What's more it requires "efficiency savings" in exchange for any payrise above 2.5%.

Given that Sydney CPI in the March 2008 quarter was at 3.9% and the Wage Price index to March 2008 quarter was 4.1%, the policy is redundant.

Furthermore, the PSA rejects the notion that staff have to pay for their own pay rise by trading off conditions for pay. Consequently, in an effort to progress the wage negotiations the PSA notified a dispute in the Industrial Relations Commission.

The matter was before the NSW Commission on June 24, where Pillar informed the Commission that they were advised by the PSWO not to speak with the union until their parameters for bargaining have been approved.

Nevertheless the PSA and Pillar will be meeting on Monday June 30 to discuss the matter and the PSA will be doing everything it can to get staff at Pillar Administration a pay rise as soon as possible.

Should negotiations fail, the matter is scheduled to be back in the Commission on the 22nd of July 2008.

Workplace Delegates:

Sydney Head Office: Shailendra Maharaj

PSA Staff