Following the endorsement of the Staff Association’s bargaining claim, the union has called for preliminary enterprise agreement meetings, in response to a statement from CSIRO Executive announcing an indeterminate delay to the commencement of formal negotiations.
In a letter to CSIRO Executive’s bargaining team, Staff Association Secretary Susan Tonks said the union was ready to negotiate and called for “preliminary bargaining discussions to occur,” in order to achieve “efficacy” when formal talks commence.
“Staff Association members want to see bargaining starting on time, so that outcomes can be negotiated without delay,” Ms Tonks said.
Late last month, Executive’s Bargaining Leads wrote to staff announcing a hold-up to the commencement of enterprise agreement (EA) negotiations at CSIRO, blaming the delay on the Federal Government.
“We have been advised by the Australian Public Service Commission (APSC) that the Public Sector Workplace Relations Policy 2023 will not be updated until the end of March.
“Until the APSC release the new policy, we will be unable to commence bargaining, which is the first step in our EA negotiation process with our team and any bargaining representatives including the Staff Association.”
In response, the Staff Association has suggested preliminary bargaining meetings to make up the lost time, focusing on administrative matters and other housekeeping.
“The purpose of these preliminary bargaining meetings would be for the discussion of facilities available for Staff Association bargaining representatives, setting a schedule of bargaining meetings (and) priority order of bargaining agenda items,” Ms Tonks said.
“The Staff Association has been consulting its members through polls, surveys and workplace meetings and is well-advanced in developing its claims for bargaining.”
Throughout February and March, Staff Association members attended workplace meetings across the country to consider and endorse the union’s bargaining claim, our starting point for negotiations.
The development of the union claim started with a snap poll last September to determine early campaign priorities, then a comprehensive bargaining survey in October – with both exercises involving more 1,650 unique contributions from CSIRO employees – followed by a national series of workplace meetings in November to dissect and discuss the results.
Approved by the directly elected representatives to the Staff Association’s Section Council and now ratified and endorsed by union members in the workplace, the claim is a principles-based document that sets out the Staff Association’s starting point for negotiations and the union’s overall enterprise agreement campaign objectives.
The claim’s principles include:
Citing cost of living as “a significant concern for CSIRO employees,” the union claim states that “wage outcomes must ensure that CSIRO can attract and retain the skills it needs to deliver for the Australian community.”
The claim calls for wage increases of:
The Staff Association has also proposed a “cost-of-living adjustment payment of $3,000 in any year of the agreement where the Consumer Price Index (CPI) exceeds the headline wage increase for the year, measured at an agreed point in time… any cost-of-living adjustment that is paid will count as salary for all purposes, including superannuation.”
Download the complete Staff Association bargaining claim here.
Elsewhere, recent comments made by CSIRO’s Chief People Officer Marcia Gough have created confusion around bargaining parameters and the start date of the next CSIRO enterprise agreement.
In February, Executive’s Bargaining Leads stated that “our current Enterprise Agreement has a nominal expiry date of 17 November 2026 and continues to operate until replaced.”
However, in response to a question in the recent all staff webinar, Ms Gough suggested that the starting date of a replacement agreement may be changed until the following March.
“The nominal expiry date for the CSIRO Enterprise Agreement is 17 November this year. And the last salary increase that was provided was on 20 November last year,” Ms Gough said.
“So, the Australian Government is developing a new public sector workplace relations policy and that will apply to both Australian Public Service (APS) and non-APS agencies. CSIRO has been asked to align the commencement of any new agreement to a start date after 1 March 2027.”
“We’re waiting to see that workplace relations policy that hasn’t been released yet. And if that does come to fruition, as I’ve said, there will be a pay rise available to make sure staff are not disadvantaged and that they’re compensated for any delay,” Ms Gough said.