I have just recieved this email from a union rep - will post it here!
Lucy
Hi All,
Please find attached a flyer recently sent to us from VHPA (Victorian Health Professionals Association) regarding the difference in pay between health professionals and the dieticians/scientist award.
As discussed in the VHPA meetings held at ISIS a couple of weeks ago, VHPA is currently negotiating for individual agreements at each Community health centre.
Nine community health centres (not ISIS) are currently voting on an enterprise agreement (that was put to them by their management) that would see them paid significantly less than the what dieticians/psychologists receive. What’s worse is that the agreement would see health professionals from those centres, actually paid less than what hospital based health professionals received/are getting. The VHPA is hoping that all health professionals vote “NO” to that agreement, as voting “YES” would see us the lowest paid in the country. The outcome of this vote will hopefully be known in the next week or so.
Whilst we have not had an agreement proposed for us at ISIS to vote on as yet, I have attached the FAQ sheet that was given to health professionals at those 9 centres, so that you have a bit more background information on the agreement that was proposed to them and why a “no” vote is so important.
From the flyer:
What Management Are Saying…
“The
new
Grade
2
Year
5
classification
for
the
Public
Sector
is
not
guaranteed”
Clause
11
funding
($14
million)
is
guaranteed
and
the
inclusion
of
a
Grade
2
Year
5
classification
has
been
costed
and
agreed
to
in
negotiations
with
the
VHIA
for
the
Public
Sector.
We
are
in
the
final
stages
of
finalising
this
package,
and
the
only
sticking
point
now
is
a
clause
around
chief
structures.
“With
salary
packaging
Community
Health
Professionals
are
better
off
staying
Grade
2
Year
4
than
if
they
were
paid
as
Grade
2
Year
5
in
the
Public
Sector”
The
creation
of
a
Grade
2
Year
5
increment
is
a
crucial
improvement
in
the
career
structures
of
Health
Professionals.
It
recognises
the
skill,
knowledge
and
experience
that
Health
Professionals
have
gained
by
working
in
the
sector.
Further
to
this,
moving
up
an
increment
has
a
flow
on
financial
effect
on
allowances,
superannuation
etc.
“There
is
nothing
in
the
Agreement
about
Workloads
that
we
know
of”
Clause
13.1.1
(page
8)
of
the
proposed
Agreement
states
that
you
can
not
raise
a
dispute
under
this
Agreement
if
it
is
to
do
with
Workloads.
This
clause
does
not
exist
in
the
current
Public
Sector
Agreement,
nor
the
Agreement
recently
made
for
Dieticians
in
Community
Health.
This
is
extremely
concerning.
It
means
Community
Health
Professionals
will
have
little
to
no
say
over
their
workloads
under
this
4
year
Agreement,
and
their
Union
cannot
assist
them
with
any
disputes
around
workloads
during
this
time
either.
We
believe
management
have
a
responsibility
to
know
what
Agreement
they
are
asking
you
to
vote
for
and
to
be
honest
and
transparent
about
all
clauses
contained
in
the
Agreement.
“Grade
2
Year
4
full-*‐timers
will
get
about
$7500
back
pay
EFT
and
if
you
don’t
vote
for
this
Agreement
then
the
back-*‐pay
will
not
be
on
the
table
in
the
future”
This
threat
that
back-*‐pay
will
be
taken
off
the
table
is
simply
being
used
to
bribe
Health
Professionals
to
vote
for
the
Agreement.
The
money
for
back-*‐pay
has
been
set
aside
by
management
and
should
continue
to
be
should
this
Agreement
not
be
voted
in
favour
of.
Finally
the
dollar
figure
quoted
is
gross
and
would
be
significantly
less
after
tax.
Sorry if its a bit hard to read..