CSIRO staff discover protest action - Black Friday rally
12 June 2008, 11:36am
CSIRO staff deserve a btter deal
The CSIRO Staff Association has called a national ‘Day of Protest’ on Friday 13 June.
Staff are upset at stalled negotiations for a new enterprise bargaining agreement. They have rejected management’s latest offer claiming it represents a cut in their current conditions.
Key staff concerns with the management offer include:
cuts to important conditions such as merit-based promotions and redundancy arrangements
a low 4% pay increase that barely keeps pace with inflation
watered down provisions on outsourcing and management accountability
CSIRO Staff Association President, Dr Michael Borgas said: “The Black Friday protest will send a strong message to the CSIRO Executive that they must start valuing staff and the contribution they make to science and the future prosperity of the nation.”
“Staff at CSIRO are at the forefront of finding answers to the serious long-term problems Australia confronts, such as food security, global warming and the water crisis.”
“CSIRO needs to be able to attract and retain the best and the brightest. This won’t happen by cutting their conditions and making management less accountable.”
Staff are also angry at a CSIRO Executive and Board decision to disproportionately cut research in response to service-wide Federal Budget cuts. The budget cuts to CSIRO, totalling $63 million over four years, have resulted in a brutal reduction in agricultural research. Two critical regional laboratories are to close as a result – the horticultural research laboratory at Merbein and the JM Rendel Laboratory in Rockhampton which conducts research for the beef industry.
The Staff Association is calling on the CSIRO Executive and Board to reverse these decisions.
“Both the Prime Minister and Minister for Science have publicly committed to improving CSIRO’s funding after the completion of the Innovation Review this year. In the meantime, CSIRO is closing sites that will be lost forever to staff, industry and their local communities. This is short-sighted management and poor governance by the Board in the national interest” said Dr Borgas.
Main Protest meeting – Media welcome
Time: 12.30-1pm Date: 13 June Place: CSIRO Clayton site, Main Entrance, Bayview Avenue, Clayton VIC
All enquiries on main and other protest meetings: Contact CSIRO Staff Association 03 8620 6348
For information and comment: Dr Michael Borgas 0400 306 166
Show your support: Post a comment below.
Contact details
Dr Michael Borgas CSIRO Staff Association President Ph: 0400 306 166
Comments(5)
Posted by:Michael Burrows - 16 Jun 2008, 9:26am
An alternate to being frustrated and belittled within the scientific community. CSIRO employees could design their own company to mass manufacture their own HHO vehicle. Done on the scale of production that would be a part of automobile history - like the A-model Ford or Volkswagen. Emcompassing numerous subjects; some of which include research, design, innovation, climate change, economics, brain-drains, profits and work/life balance. Rest assured 'they' will want to be supportive - when everybody else is.
Posted by:deeply saddened - 14 Jun 2008, 5:43pm
CSIRO management talks about wanting to attract and retain the best yet walks the walk of short-sighted accountants on Clause 11 contracts. Divisional Chiefs used to stand up for their staff but they too have been bought off with Clause 11's. And scientists, engineers and innovators, without whom CSIRO wouldn't exist, are treated with distain as management relies on their committment to discovery to accept substandard pay offers and cuts to their conditions of employment. All the while the CSIRO Board cowers silently, complicit in the devaluing of science.
Posted by:Art - 13 Jun 2008, 12:40pm
Despite CSIRO?s protestations that they are trying to attract and maintain quality staff, they continue to put ?business? before ?people?. Their argument is that without a solid bottom line you can?t employ people. My argument is that without happy people you can?t generate good science. In the long run this will be the demise of CSIRO, not short term funding restrictions imposed by transient governments. Already I see staff doing ?just enough? at work rather than the ?incredible effort? we used to put in. In my view this is a direct result of CSIRO putting ?business? before ?people?. The current EB is yet another example of this. It seems CSIRO?s approach to negotiating an EBA is based primarily on trying to reduce costs to help the bottom line. That?s why people?s conditions are eroded. In contrast, their goal should be, what can we do to improve the circumstances of our people within our current funding constraints. Please tell the finance people to stand out of the room for any further EB negotiations!
Posted by:Shattered - 13 Jun 2008, 10:56am
I am most disturbed at the change in culture being forced throughout the organisation (the EB being the latest example). We have moved away from a creative, trusting environment, to a tightly-controlled, unethical, bureaucratic system, which renders scientists powerless and frustrated. Professional and personal ethnics are already severely compromised by having to charge all work to clients. This is not industry practice, and is immoral. This is now being compounded by management attempting to reduce the ability of staff (through their union representatives) to monitor bureaucratic activities (eg the rising number of individual contracts). We are being COMPROMISED and STIFLED by a command-crazy management who seem to have forgotten that their job is to support CSIRO scientists, not the other way around. (Sorry this comment is not in CSIRO branding colours - couldn't find a template for comments - sure there is one though)
Posted by:Unimpressed - 12 Jun 2008, 2:59pm
CSIRO are treating existing staff with contempt they want us to accept a sub-standard pay rise, reduce our conditions, force a Workchoices agreement on us when we voted it away in November, and to top it all off offer individual contracts to new staff when their miserable pay rise renders salaries uncompetitive.
An alternate to being frustrated and belittled within the scientific community.
CSIRO employees could design their own company to mass manufacture their own HHO vehicle. Done on the scale of production that would be a part of automobile history - like the A-model Ford or Volkswagen.
Emcompassing numerous subjects; some of which include research, design, innovation, climate change, economics, brain-drains, profits and work/life balance.
Rest assured 'they' will want to be supportive - when everybody else is.
CSIRO management talks about wanting to attract and retain the best yet walks the walk of short-sighted accountants on Clause 11 contracts. Divisional Chiefs used to stand up for their staff but they too have been bought off with Clause 11's. And scientists, engineers and innovators, without whom CSIRO wouldn't exist, are treated with distain as management relies on their committment to discovery to accept substandard pay offers and cuts to their conditions of employment. All the while the CSIRO Board cowers silently, complicit in the devaluing of science.
Despite CSIRO?s protestations that they are trying to attract and maintain quality staff, they continue to put ?business? before ?people?. Their argument is that without a solid bottom line you can?t employ people. My argument is that without happy people you can?t generate good science. In the long run this will be the demise of CSIRO, not short term funding restrictions imposed by transient governments. Already I see staff doing ?just enough? at work rather than the ?incredible effort? we used to put in. In my view this is a direct result of CSIRO putting ?business? before ?people?. The current EB is yet another example of this. It seems CSIRO?s approach to negotiating an EBA is based primarily on trying to reduce costs to help the bottom line. That?s why people?s conditions are eroded. In contrast, their goal should be, what can we do to improve the circumstances of our people within our current funding constraints. Please tell the finance people to stand out of the room for any further EB negotiations!
I am most disturbed at the change in culture being forced throughout the organisation (the EB being the latest example). We have moved away from a creative, trusting environment, to a tightly-controlled, unethical, bureaucratic system, which renders scientists powerless and frustrated. Professional and personal ethnics are already severely compromised by having to charge all work to clients. This is not industry practice, and is immoral.
This is now being compounded by management attempting to reduce the ability of staff (through their union representatives) to monitor bureaucratic activities (eg the rising number of individual contracts). We are being COMPROMISED and STIFLED by a command-crazy management who seem to have forgotten that their job is to support CSIRO scientists, not the other way around. (Sorry this comment is not in CSIRO branding colours - couldn't find a template for comments - sure there is one though)
CSIRO are treating existing staff with contempt they want us to accept a sub-standard pay rise, reduce our conditions, force a Workchoices agreement on us when we voted it away in November, and to top it all off offer individual contracts to new staff when their miserable pay rise renders salaries uncompetitive.