As you might know, HACSU were set to begin bargaining with Neal from NWSS for your new Enterprise Agreement soon. But unfortunately, after we approached Neal to kick things off, he told us that due to prior commitments NWSS won’t be able to negotiate until early December.

We let Neal know that delaying negotiations isn’t ideal – and as a sign of good faith we asked him to make sure there’s no reduction in your current conditions.

Neal responded and said:

"NWSS will not proactively seek to reduce the existing terms and conditions of employment as specified in the Tasmanian Disability Services Industry Multi-Employer Enterprise Agreement 2011 as part of a log of claims in bargaining for a new enterprise agreement. However, NWSS acknowledge that during bargaining the parties may agree to vary the terms and conditions of the Tasmanian Disability Services Industry Multi-Employer Enterprise Agreement 2011 to achieve an agreed bargaining outcome as part of an updated enterprise agreement”.

It’s not the firm commitment HACSU members would prefer, but Neal has agreed not to proactively reduce your current Agreement – we’ll be holding him to his promise.

We’ll keep you updated once we’ve locked in a meeting time for your negotiations – but what’s important to know is that bargaining is your time to have a say about your working conditions and wages. Together, we can work to build on what you already have.

If you know a co-worker that’s not yet a HACSU member, now’s the time to encourage them to get onboard, it’s as easy as visiting join.hacsu.org.au

If you’ve got questions or need more information, please get in touch via HACSUassist.