Today we are asking you to consider an important question relating to your working conditions. A lot has changed since December/January when members last voted to give in-principle agreement to an offer to settle your EB.

Background

• Your CSYW Steering Committee delegates have been working for over two years to negotiate and certify your EB. There have been key industrial issues raised including workloads, attraction and retention and improving classifications. As members, you took protected industrial action that included strikes, work bans and rallies.

After hearing yesterday's announcement from the Minister and the Commissioner that sworn officers will receive an additional paid 2 weeks leave for being the 'frontline' response to the COVID-19 emergency, we know that many members, who work alongside sworn officers on the frontline, were surprised that this had not also been afforded to all of you.

The saga with Qantas over JobKeeper continues. As we reported back in April 2020, Qantas believes that in a fortnight an employee did not work it can nevertheless use the $1500 fortnightly JobKeeper payment to pay for penalty rates from the preceding fortnight. We have maintained from the start that this is wrong.

Following Blue Care’s failure to respond to the request from your union for appropriate clarification regarding the organisational changes, assistance was sought from the Fair Work Commission. 

Today marks the last day of Term 2, 2020.

What an extraordinary term this has been!

So much has changed over this term so quickly and at every stage it seemed like there was a new challenge: remote learning, remote working, and massive additional workloads for public servants.

Thank you to all of those who were able to attend our online meeting last week. It was great to see and hear from so many members across the state, connecting at a time where there is so much external pressure being put on the Department and its most valuable resource – you, the workers.

Members in the Allied Health Directorate have forwarded information from the department that directs members to complete a Conflict of Interest Declaration.

The Queensland government's new 'wage freeze' legislation has locked in wage increases for Health members who already have agreements in principle. 

This is good news. You have been waiting a long time for the money you are owed.