We were at the bargaining table last week. Here's what you need to know.
Your delegates sat down with the department to work through some of the big items on the agenda — coverage, the log of claims and where negotiations are heading.
It was a full meeting, and there's a lot to unpack. We've recorded a short video so you can hear directly from the people who were in the room.
One of the big questions on the table this week was the scope of the agreement, in other words, who is covered by the CSYJ Agreement.
As members would be aware, people have been MOG'ed from outside of the Department and into the Department of Families. Those workers are now sitting on the core government agreement rather than the Child Safety and Youth Justice Agreement.
We asked the question directly
What is the scope of our current bargaining? The department's answer was clear — they are not proposing any change to the scope/coverage of the agreement.
The department's position means workers doing the same job in Child Safety, particularly Investment, Planning and Partnership and corporate office colleagues who've come over from places like Disability Services into this new Department of Families, are being asked to take on Child Safety work, including licensing and contracting, but they are not going to receive the conditions of the Child Safety and Youth Justice Agreement. They'll still be on the CORE Agreement.
Same work. Two different agreements. As a union, we don't think that's okay, and we'll keep pushing on it.
The 'log of claims' is the list of improvements members are fighting for in this bargaining round. This week we got an update on where each party is at — and there's something in that update every member needs to hear.
Both departments, Child Safety and Youth Justice, have told us they intend to put forward their own logs of claims. This is not something that happened in the last 2 rounds of negotiations for your agreement.
Fair warning: departments and employers don't put forward a log of claims unless they're trying to change things. And usually these changes are not in favour of working people.
That's not scaremongering. That's how bargaining works. Bargaining is not just about winning new things, the employer can use this process to propose cuts to what you already have. Allowances, protections, working arrangements, and conditions you rely on every day. All of it can go on the table.
Child Safety has committed to getting their log to us by the end of this month. Youth Justice has been more reticent — no date committed yet. We'll share more as soon as we have it.
Your union will be putting forward a log of claims very soon.
Keep an eye on your emails. When you receive the draft log of claims, your Steering Committee wants to hear from you. Your delegates have worked hard to build a log that reflects what members actually said in the EB survey.
Members will be asked to formally endorse the log, either online or when your organiser visits your workplace. We will share more on this soon.
Remember, bargaining only works when members drive it. The department negotiates harder when workers are divided or disengaged. They negotiate differently when they know members are organised, informed, and ready to act.