Last week, the HSU met with St. Vincent’s Lismore to continue negotiating your Enterprise Agreement. As you would recall, bargaining commenced towards the end of 2019, but was postponed because of COVID-19.

The HSU revised the log of claims to include paid pandemic leave and some adjustments to the Enterprise Agreement that have become necessary in light of recent workplace disputes, but the majority of the claims that were given to St. Vincent’s remain unchanged. At this stage, the majority of claims are not agreed by both parties.

So far, St. Vincent’s have said:

• No to the introduction of an infectious cleaning allowance.
• No to increased long service leave provisions.
• No to paid domestic violence leave.
• No to paid meal breaks. 

There has also been no indication of what a wage increase will look like under the proposed Enterprise Agreement, although the HSU’s wage claim of 6% has been rejected.

The HSU will continue negotiating and fighting for the claims that we put to St. Vincent’s in 2019, including a fair wage increase for workers.

We will keep all members updated once we have had another bargaining meeting, which at this stage is yet to be scheduled.

In the meantime, if you have any questions regarding the negotiation process or would like to be more involved in negotiations, please send an email to [E-Mail not displayed] and we will be in touch.

Know someone who isn’t yet a member of the HSU? They can join online at www.hsu.asn.au/join or call 1300 478 679.