NSW DET pay increase for SASS

[Slartibartfast]

>>> Les Carr 19/09/2008 2:22 pm >>>
PSA News
19 September 2008

Good afternoon members,

Here is PSA General Secretary John Cahill's report on the outcome of
the public sector pay case.

Would you please email this to other PSA members within your
organisation.

Regards
Les Carr


Dear Member

Re: Crown Employees (Public Sector * Salaries 2008) Award

I am pleased to report to members that following the intervention of the President of the NSW Industrial Relations Commission, the abovementioned award has been finalised.

Negotiations on the award commenced in November 2007 and have continued until yesterday. At the same time a formal application was made to the NSW Industrial Relations Commission involving many thousands of pages of evidence and 47 PSA witnesses.

Following a number of preliminary hearings in the Commission over the past months, the Commission President, His Honour Mr Justice Boland, chaired conferences of the parties on 4, 5, 9, 10, 11, 15, and 16 September 2008.

On 17 September 2008, His Honour issued a statement which was accepted by both parties, the Association and the Government.

In brief, the new award provides for:-
a 4% increase from the first pay period on or after 1 July 2008;
a 4% increase from the first pay period on or after 1 July 2009;
a 4% increase from the first pay period on or after 1 July 2010.

The above award variations will result in a 12.48% compounded increase over three years.

Please also note that the first increase is backdated to 1 July 2008, the expiry date of the previous award.


In addition the following items have been agreed:- the extension of a full-time employee*s entitlement to a second
period of paid maternity leave on full pay should that second period commence not more than two years after the commencement of the initial period of maternity leave; the introduction of a *purchased leave* scheme that will allow for an extra four weeks leave per year; the extension of the clerk classification to absorb the position of
clerical officer into a single award. In addition, in accordance with Mr Justice Boland*s recommendation,
the parties have agreed to discuss a range of issues both across the public sector and at the agency level with a view to modernising and improving a series of arrangements. This will be done either by the parties directly, through existing consultative processes or with the involvement of Unions NSW.


I believe that the increases in the salaries award are no less than are deserved by hard working PSA members, and are favourable when compared to outcomes achieved by other unions. In addition both our own economic
experts in the case, as well as the Government*s economic experts, have predicted the inflation rate over the next two years will be in the order of 3 to 3.5%.

Members should also note the crucial involvement of the NSW Industrial Relations Commission. The processes under which the Association is able to lodge and prosecute its claims in NSW would not have been possible
under either John Howard*s WorkChoices laws or indeed Kevin Rudd*s proposed new Federal legislation. It is essential that the superior NSW system of industrial relations remain in place.

Finally, I would like to thank all those Association members who made themselves available to be witnesses in the case, and prepared detailed statements of evidence. Without the involvement and assistance of these
members, this result would not have been possible.

Yours faithfully
JOHN CAHILL
General Secretary

[Labbie]

about time too.

Thanks Richard

[dolphinscales]

lucky you guys

[Mother]

Thanks for the info. Richard
Just wondering though,were there any trade off's? I am becoming very sceptical when we are given something and nothing is required in return.
Cheers
Mother

[Labbie]

NO trades off yet??????????

[Slartibartfast]

No, not that I'm aware of other than each of us donating 1 kidney.

[Loopy]

I suppose that'd be the working one?!?

[cactus155]

It was going to be a trade off for the liver but not many lab. techs livers would be any use

[The Search Engine]

You guys are just funny!

[smiley]

Funny ha ha, or funny wierd? (Or both?)

[Slartibartfast]

Kristin....

1) It's a shame that there isn't an allowance (like 1st aid) for weirdness, some of us would be getting a lot more than a 12% increase over 3 years!

2) 15 years of working with teachers and their quirks does have an affect so a bit of occasional madness is completely normal (and in some cases expected) for lab techs

3) I find it helps me throught the day.

I'm told this pay period (15th Oct) is the date the increase starts and backpay to the begining of July is to be paid.

[smiley]

Hey Richard,

I get to keep the crown on "wierd" up here! Not to mention "annoying" as well. During the Olympics I walked past 3 seniors (including one of school captains) in the back of class, all crowded around a mobile, and patently not listening. so I said, in my stage voice, "OMGGM!" (translation - Oh My Goodness Gracious Me - I work in a Catholic school don't forget) "Surely that's not a mobile I see in class!" The teacher stops, demands the mobile which is finally handed over with great reluctance. On the way back to her desk, the offending (offended?) student gave me the slitty eyes, whereupon I burst out laughing, and told her, again in my stage voice, that I was too old to be affected by a slitty eyed look from a student who was way old enought to know better, thus exposing her to her peers as immmature. Took a while for that trio to regain their equilibrium and start speaking to me nicely again. However, they need me, so that speeded up the process.

If you've ever noted my previous flippancy about crocs, please note that these holidays the crocs won again, and once again people are reminded to approach water with caution. Did I mention we have an excursion next Friday? To the beach, and next to an estuarine creek?

[Whspa]

Well, I've just opened my pay docket - no increase or backpay this week. Rather disappointing!

Carol

[Slartibartfast]

Mmmmmmmmm, same here. The PSA have done their part now it's just up to the boffins at the DET to do what they've been ordered by the Industrial Relations courts to do. I'll make some calls now.

[Slartibartfast]

Just spoke to Irene at the PSA main office in Sydney.

It has been approved by the Industrial Relations courts and will either be the last pay in October or very early November with all owed backpay to the beginning of July this year. The longer it takes DET salaries to set the wheels in motion, the larger the backpay will be.

There also has been some fear by some school assistants that the DET has appealed the courts findings and that the new pay increase will have to be fought for again but these are completely unfounded rumours and should be dismissed as such. Things are very much ontrack but like anything with the NSW DET, they take a while to put in place. They are public servants after all!

[cactus155]

And the larger the amount of tax that will be taken out

[Slartibartfast]

The taxed rate remains the same as it's something that was due to be in place at the beginning of July. We won't be taxed any heavier whether paid in our regular pay or as backpay. That was something our union wanted clarified by the NSW Govt.

Why should we lose what we gained through our employers time to put the changes into affect? The PSA were awake to the DET's 'history' for dragging it's heals and counteracted.

[CC]

Hi guys

Does anybody else know about a union meeting on the 28/10/08 to discuss trade offs for the pay rise. I was told this is why we havn't got it yet

CC

[Labbie]

The Fire Bridage are also going to that meeting, they are lossing sick days, or so the story goes. We SAO I believe are also lossing sick days. But I have not seen any words on this.

Think we all knew trade offs were hiding somewhere???????

[Slartibartfast]

I've heard nothing of any trade offs - certainly nothing in writing from the DET, the PSA and the Industrial Commision courts who such a document would come from. We in schools aren't losing any leave entitlements.

From the PSA's point of view (a call to Irene @ Sydney office yesterday afternoon) it's all done and dusted and they're very happy with the results of over 12 months in the courts. These things take several weeks for the states biggest employer - the DET to get their salaries dept to implement as there are thousands of us on every pay scale you can imagine.

She said they are getting several calls every day across the state asking about possible trade offs. Members should dismissed them as just rumours that get started when things don't happen immediately. The PSA have kept members up to date with the latest information mailed out to home addresses.

One thing she did say that surprised me was substantially less than 1/2 of all NSW SASS staff in schools, TAFE and uni are members of any union. No wonder we lack any real say. We're not a force to be reckoned with unlike the Teachers Fed and the fact that we are all getting a pay increase in NSW because of only 34.2% of us is surprising.

I'm dissapointed not to have been paid yet also, but after 15 years I've learnt things don't happen overnight! Patience Grasshopper!