CEPU ad campaign tackles postie penalty rates
February 4, 2008

“EBA = Respect” campaign Campaign Launch
The CEPU is launching an advertising campaign in major metropolitan and regional newspapers to put a spot light on Australia Post’s unfair policy of ripping penalty rates off new employees, especially those in delivery. While EBA7 will provide a medium term method of reintroducing penalty shifts for affected PDO’s, Australia Post has said it still wants to hire new starters at a time that will see staff miss out on penalty rates. The CEPU has told Post that the union will campaign strongly against this practice – and the national ad campaign is proof of our commitment to see the end of this deliberate policy by Post to rip off our members. Make no mistake: these straight talking ads are a pointed reminder that Australia Post – with its massive profits and big executive bonuses – is squeezing the incomes of our members. The ads call on people applying for jobs with Australia Post to demand the same conditions as existing staff. This will ensure people doing the same work, get the same pay. Longer term, it may also address the staff shortages affecting Post as a result of upset new starters leaving the corporation after learning that Post is financially disadvantaging them. Expect Australia Post to launch an outraged response to the ads, claiming that the union is damaging the corporation’s image and brand. However we think Post management has a lot to answer for, with its actions short-changing employees and creating a skill shortage that leads to excessive overtime, overworked employees and potential health and safety risks with tired staff working longer hours. There’s a straight forward solution to this issue: pay CEPU members their penalty rates to make sure enough people are employed within Post to get the mail out properly!   Graham Lorrain Branch Secretary. 4th February, 2008.

Your Rights At Work were worth voting for!

Congratulations CEPU members: overwhelmingly, you were part of a massive wave of votes that swept out a government – and is about to sweep out WorkChoices.

Very early on election night it was clear that history was being made:

• With one of the biggest swings to a political party since World War II – a swing that was bigger than the one that put John Howard into power in 1996
• Only the second time in history that a Prime Minister has lost his seat – after trying to radically change the country’s industrial relations system
• And political commentators – along with Government ministers – believe WorkChoices was a reason for the Government’s downfall.

The CEPU and its members invested time and resources through the Your Rights At Work campaign to help build public support to change WorkChoices.

The campaign also highlighted to workers how badly they were being treated under the Howard Government’s workplace laws. 

In workplaces across the country, employees felt that WorkChoices had given some managers the green light to act and behave poorly.  Hard fought wages and conditions were being worn away because the law let this happen.

This is why WorkChoices – and the government that brought it in ­–had to go.

The CEPU would like to thank members for their fantastic support of the Your Rights At Work campaign.

You have every reason to celebrate.  Now for the next part – changing WorkChoices.

It’s already been reported that the Rudd Government is aiming to introduce changes to WorkChoices in the new year.

According to the ACTU, the union’s priorities for change include: restoring the award safety net to stop WorkChoices agreements undermining wages and conditions; strengthening the right to collectively bargain; the seeing the return of an "independent umpire" along with the abolition of AWAs.

We look forward to seeing fairer, balanced workplace laws that protect Your Rights At Work.  The election is an important step in the struggle on behalf of CEPU members but we will continue to build our organisation independently as Governments come and go.

Yours sincerely,

Graham Lorrain
Branch Secretary.

27 November, 2007

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Members' vote secures new, stronger EBA offer.

The CEPU congratulates members for their support of the Australia Post EBA7 protected industrial action ballot.

Their strong stand has helped push Australia Post back to the negotiating table in an effort to finalise EBA7.

The CEPU, CPSU and Australia Post have met three times since the declaration of the ballot, with productive talks moving the parties closer together on agreement.  Recent discussions resulted in Australia Post moving on the issues of pay, arbitration, job security and penalty rate protection. 

As a result of the ballot and the additional talks, Australia Post has changed its pay offer to a 16 per cent deal, with $500 bonus.  The new pay deal provides an average annualised increase (factoring in bonus) of 5.3 per cent until December 2010.  The pay arrangements will run for 39 months, from September 2007 to December 2010. The overall proposed agreement will expire on 31 December 2010.

Read the full press release here.

If you have any comments or feedback, contact the CEPU or email us at eba7@cepu.asn.au

EBA7 – CEPU TELLS POST: “Enough’s enough”

Having received a clear signal from members through our EBA7 survey, the CEPU has today told Australia Post: enough is enough – it’s time to start listening.
             
The peak decision making body of the CEPU Communications Division – the Divisional Executive – today considered the outcome of the member survey.  Thank you to all members who took the time to complete the survey and give us such strong results.

After receiving a report on the EBA, the Divisional Executive agreed that it’s time Post got the talks back on track; that the outstanding issues in the EBA be fixed and that we get an agreement in place to fairly reward members.

There are only a few issues that need to be fixed – but they’re important issues:

• we need an EBA that has full arbitration-protection
• we need to tackle Australia Post’s approach to penalty rates
• we need our legal, job security clauses on franchising, contracting, dedicated delivery – cut by Post using a wrong interpretation of WorkChoices

We’re also calling on the Managing Director of Australia Post to block the awarding of any senior executive bonuses or pay rises until after EBA7 is voted on by members.

The CEPU is calling on Australia Post to meet – in an attempt to fix the remaining EBA7 issues.  We hope they will genuinely bargain. If Australia Post refuses to genuinely bargain or improve their offer, the Divisional Executive has given the green light to take the necessary steps to get authority for protected industrial action.

Read the full press release here.

Want to send your support to the CEPU for a better EBA7 deal?  Email us at eba7@cepu.asn.au