News

Award 2021 #4

February 6, 2021

As reported in SitRep 3/2021, we have been waiting for the formal 2021 Award offer from FRNSW for over two weeks. It finally came through late yesterday afternoon. The “offer” can be found here. You will note it is dated 3 February but it wasn’t received until late in the day of 5 February.

Members may also be aware of an email from the Department this morning. It goes somewhat of the way to agreeing to parts of our log of claims, albeit not necessarily in the Awards, including improvements to promotional programs, better access to training and defined Retained to Permanent pathways. It is great to see the Department taking some of our collective concerns seriously.

The Department is also correct in saying that there are processes underway that are outside of the control of the parties – the State Wages Case appeal being heard later in the year, for example.

That said, we will still be pursuing a 2.5% increase to our wages and improvements to conditions.

We have been seeking legal advice in applying for this outside of the State Wages Case. FRNSW has a unique funding model compared to most parts of the public service. With close to three quarters of our budget coming from insurance companies, the Government’s argument of spending money on infrastructure projects rather than putting money in public sector workers’ pockets may not apply.

There may be a need for evidence from members to support our application so I ask any interested member to keep an eye on following SitReps if we do need to go down that path.

More to follow.

In Unity,

Leighton Drury

State Secretary

You can download this Award update here.