Following months of negotiation, your NextSense enterprise agreement is going out to a ballot this week. The negotiation has been long and there have been a lot of challenges, but your HSU bargaining committee believes we’ve delivered the best agreement possible.

Last week your HSU bargaining committee met and agreed to support a ‘yes’ vote for the new agreement. We also agreed that HSU members at NextSense need to stay active and united, to ensure that the new agreement is implemented fairly and to make sure that our union presence stays strong in the workplace.

Voting on the agreement will commence at 9am on Tuesday 23 November and will be open until 5pm on Thursday 25 November. This is your agreement and we encourage every HSU member to have a say in this important vote.

The proposed agreement protects key entitlements from the current enterprise agreements and extends new benefits for many staff, including:

• Parental leave of 14 weeks for primary carers and 6 weeks for secondary carers
• New unlimited Personal Leave and Carers Leave (with current leave accruals protected for all current staff)
• 6 weeks paid leave annually for all employees (inc 2 weeks Christmas shutdown) with special protections for staff who previously accrued 8 weeks annual leave
• New paid professional development of four days per year, for all employees
• Key commitment for improved consultation between NextSense and union staff representatives, to foster a better workplace culture and understanding
• Clear processes for requesting a classification review, including rights to access dispute resolution procedure and seek the assistance of the Fair Work Commission
• Pay increases of 2.5% per annum, in 2022 and 2023

You can find a copy of the proposed enterprise agreement at this link. If you have any questions or concerns about the enterprise agreement, please contact HSU Bargaining Officer Chris Friend for assistance at [E-Mail not displayed].

Staying strong and united

I would like to thank all the HSU bargaining representatives who have played such a vital role getting this deal to the point where we can recommend it to you. Without their hard work and dedication, this result simply would not have been possible.

However, once the new agreement is approved, it’s important that all HSU members stay active to ensure that the agreement is implemented fairly, and continue to support each other in the workplace.

If you are interested in getting involved more involved with the union as a workplace representative, please contact your HSU Organiser Lisa Ronneberg at [E-Mail not displayed]. If your colleagues are not yet HSU members, please encourage them to join the union online at www.hsu.asn.au/join or by calling 1300 478 679.

We need to stay united to keep this momentum going and ensure that our union is strong at NextSense.

We will update members following the outcome of the ballot later this week.