As you are aware, Chris O’Brien Lifehouse (COBLH) has proposed a variation to your Enterprise Agreement on the basis that they did not receive the funding that was anticipated, and as a result can no longer afford to pay the 2.5% pay increase owing to all members on 1 July 2021.

COBLH has written to the HSU and advised that they will seek to vary your Enterprise Agreement so that the wage increase offered to employees will be 1.04% instead of 2.5%. COBLH has proposed that the access period will commence on 7 June 2021, and that the ballot for the Enterprise Agreement variation will open at 9am on 15 June 2021 and close at 4pm on 18 June 2021.

Yet again, COBLH are asking members to accept a wage cut thanks to their own financial difficulties. In 2020, employees at COBLH did what they believed to be right and assisted COBLH when they cried poor and said they couldn’t pay the wage increase that was due. Now, members are again being told they shouldn’t be properly compensated for the work that they do – despite already having shouldered the financial burden last year.

HSU members do the best possible job so that COBLH maintains its reputation as a renowned cancer treatment centre. You should be paid the full wage increase that was agreed to in Enterprise Agreement negotiations, and not less.

The HSU will be on site next week to continue talking to members about the proposed variation and the impact that this will have on members. You can speak to your HSU organiser on any of the following days:

• Tuesday 8 June from 12pm onwards – Radiation Oncology meal room
• Thursday 10 June from 12pm onwards – Radiation Oncology meal room

If you want to talk to the HSU sooner or aren’t available on either day, you can contact the HSU by sending an email to [E-Mail not displayed] or by calling Ian Sherwood on 0409 066 016. New members can join at www.hsu.asn.au/join or call 1300 478 679.