Unfortunately, Tas IVF continue to take a very aggressive and misleading approach in the bargaining process which has now descended into some outright lies. Here’s what’s actually happening:
Merging the agreements: Combining the current medical scientists and nurses enterprise agreement was entirely Tas IVF’s idea. It was their very first and strongest position. We said we had serious concerns with this because it affects certain groups of employees’ ability to negotiate what matters most to them. However, it is the employer that gets to put out a notice as to who the agreement will cover – HACSU doesn’t get to make that choice. While we kept registering our concerns, Tas IVF insisted on one agreement. So we said that it would have to cover everyone, including admin and support services and nurses at the Hobart Specialist Day Hospital to ensure that no workers are left out.
HACSU acting quickly: As soon as the nurses changed their position in terms of wages and the time to be paid for changing into and out of scrubs, we raised our concern with the scope and then lodged a scope order application. Throughout this bargain, we have met with nurses (both HACSU and ANMF nurses) who were adamant that Tas IVF’s wages offer was way below what would be satisfactory. So it's surprising that the low offer has now been accepted by the nurses. We still don’t think it represents a fair wage increase for nurses, medical scientists and admin staff.
Potential delays: We’ve said to TasIVF that if they agree to have separate agreements we can wrap up this quickly. Since the nurses have reached an agreement, we can then focus on negotiating wages and conditions for scientists and admin staff. We don’t have to have a delayed process through the Fair Work Commission because Tas IVF could agree on separate agreements today if they wished.
FWC conference: We have Fair Work Commission conference listed for 20 September on our scope order application. Tas IVF’s claim that it’ll take “six months” is just another wild exaggeration. Classic scare tactic.
The bottom line is that we all want an agreement, and we want it ASAP. We want an agreement that gives you better wages and conditions you deserve. The quickest way to get there is with separate agreements which will mean both groups of employees can settle their issues and particular interests without holding up the process for others.