Fair Work Agreement video

Beverley O'Connor:

Hello, and welcome, to this special presentation on Australia Post's Fair Work Agreement.

My name is Beverley O'Connor and I am going to be taking you through an overview of the agreement. A little later we are going to hear from Australia Post's Managing Director, Ahmed Fahour, and the unions who will provide more details - so that you understand the background before voting in the Australia Post Fair Work Agreement ballot. So what is contained in this document?

The Australia Post Fair Work Agreement is a comprehensive summary of all the terms and conditions of your employment at Australia Post. It's a very thorough document - but it needs to be - in order to cover all of your workplace rights and benefits.

Let's take a look at the key benefits contained in this Agreement. They include:

• Up to 10% pay increases over three years
• Job security retained through RRR
• Protection of your employment terms and conditions and
• Most importantly, stability for staff and customers.

When considering these pay increases of up to 10%, it is important to think about the past, the present and the future. Australia Post has a proud history of providing salary increases well above the CPI since the first enterprise bargaining agreement in 1992.

It is also important to note, these are not the first pay increases for staff since EBA6. Australia Post paid staff a number of pay increases outside of the enterprise agreement while negotiating continued.  In fact, during these negotiations staff received three 4% pay increases, plus a $500 bonus at a time when other businesses had pay freezes because of the global financial crisis.   

In addition to the pay offer of up to 10%, the Australia Post Fair Work Agreement maximises your job security and enables the business to focus on future growth opportunities. 

This Agreement builds on the commitment to your job security. It does this by preserving the RRR Agreement which covers re-training, redeployment and redundancies.  Under the RRR Agreement, Australia Post will seek to retrain and redeploy staff - in preference to redundancy.

This is a very significant commitment - especially given the recent declines in letter volumes and the changing nature of Australia Post's workload.

To breathe life into the RRR Agreement, Australia Post has announced a $20 million Future Skills initiative.

There are a number of other benefits contained in the Australia Post Fair Work Agreement. They include …

All existing shift penalties remain - and any changes to penalties will require senior consultation.

You can also cash-out your annual leave entitlement - if you have accrued more than six weeks' leave.

For expectant mothers, the Agreement adds one extra week to maternity leave entitlements. So, paid maternity leave will increase from 13 to 14 weeks.

But that's enough from me. The real experts on this Agreement are the people who negotiated it. Australia Post management and representatives from the two main unions that represent Australia Post staff - the CEPU and the CPSU worked together to develop this outcome. At the recent launch of the Australia Post Fair Work Agreement, Managing Director Ahmed Fahour explained why he thinks this is so important to Australia Post's future.

Ahmed Fahour:

The communications market that we operate in is exploding with growth. It's just that we've got the slowest growth component of that market. We have the slowest growth component. And that's our issue.

The Fair Work Agreement tries to balance the unstable world that we are facing and give us stability inside our company. It tries to preserve as many jobs as we can. And it tries to focus very much on equipping and training our people to give them the best chance of where the growth opportunities lie. The growth opportunities are not in letters but we owe it to hold onto as many of those jobs as we can and to try to equip them, train them and redeploy these good people into other growth areas.

That's what it's about. It's about all of us being together to focus on one thing, which is how do we look after the 35,000 employees of Australia Post. That's what all of our objective is, because it is only through them - it is only through them - that we have a job. I think it's far more important to keep a job than to see if you can eke out an extra 1%.

This Fair Work Agreement in front of you gets us only to the starting point. It creates a framework that does the best it possibly can to protect as many people as we have.

I urge you all to do everything in your power to get a Yes vote and get us to the starting line and from there we will go onto great things.

Beverley O'Connor:

Cameron Thiele, from the CEPU, also explained why his union is supporting this Agreement.

Cameron Thiele:

I don't need to tell the people in the room how difficult the conditions for the business are and how we need to work together, which is why so much of the new agreement is about securing conditions for our staff and members at an uncertain time.

This document delivers for the members of our union and Australia Post an agreement and framework that can help the business grow and develop - and while delivering on safety, security that workers at Australia Post have struggled towards over the last 3 years. And it is important because our union acknowledges that Australia Post's core business is at the crossroads.

I commend the new Australia Post agreement to you and to your members and I look forward to working constructively through the challenges that will confront us over the next few years.

Beverley O'Connor:

And now we are going to hear from Louise Persse from the CPSU.

Louise Persse:

A major feature of this agreement is job security and we agree that's very important, and it's clear from the information that you have seen here today and I imagine that is not new to you that the corporation is under strain. In that environment, we welcome the commitment that has been made to maintaining jobs and the emphasis on good quality and full-time jobs.

Beverley O'Connor:

Well, now you've heard from all sides that negotiated the Australia Post Fair Work Agreement, but, ultimately, you have the final say on whether this Agreement is endorsed.

A majority of staff will have to vote "Yes" in the Australia Post Fair Work Agreement ballot before the outlined conditions and pay rises outlined can take effect.

Soon you will get a ballot paper in the mail from the Australian Electoral Commission. The ballot is open for only two weeks - from September 22nd until October 6th.

So, please, follow the ballot instructions carefully - and make sure that your vote counts.

If you have any questions, feel free to send an email to FWA@auspost.com.au or you can call the Australia Post Fair Work Agreement hotline on 1800 106 245.

Thanks for your time and, please, don't forget to vote.