At long last, we met with DSPL management this week to tell them why an overwhelming number of workers have voted no to DSPL’s substandard offer.
Here are the reasons:
- Premature conclusion of negotiations – this was not bargaining with good faith
- Length of agreement – DSPL want the agreement to be 4 years, while your clear position is a 3-year deal
- Changes to shift penalties and span of hours that would leave shift workers worse off. If you’re working outside of “normal hours”, you should be paid as a shift worker, not a day worker.
- Issues with rosters, hours accrual and loss of paid meal breaks
- Changes to annual leave accrual that are likely to mean the loss of 1-2 weeks of leave for shift workers. This is not consistent with the National Employment Standards that say a shift worker is an employee who is regularly rostered to work Sundays and public holidays.
- Removal of grandfathering arrangements and your long-term terms and conditions
- Issues with access to and amount of compassionate leave
- Unsatisfactory increases in wages and allowances
- Not clearly defined classifications
DSPL will now go away to rethink their position on the issues raised. We’ll meet them again in a few weeks and will keep you updated.
