SBS refuses to budge - “inflation and productivity” arguments rejected
28 August 2008, 10:22am
In last week’s union report back meetings you told us management’s pay offer was not good enough and that you deserved a 5% pa increase for the next three years. When negotiations resumed on Monday, your unions argued strongly for an increase in the pay offer but management appeared unfazed.
We argued that:
productivity gains identified so far in this bargaining round are
generous and should provide SBS with enough room to offer more pay
SBS has benefited significantly from productivity increases that have
occurred over the last three years and that should be recognised. Staff are
continually expected do to more with less. It is common that staff are not
replaced when they leave the organisation and extra duties have been forced
upon others, such as increasing the broadcast news bulletin to an hour
the increased of cost of living (CPI) should be considered when
determining pay offers.
When we asked “Are there any arguments that are inflation based or
productivity based that we can put to shift your position?”, management replied
“No”. According to them, inflation never has and will not be a consideration in
determining pay rises.
Reasoning behind their pay offer
Year 1 = 4%
Year 2 = 4.3% AND Year 3
= 4.2%
SBS has already fixed its budgets for the 2008/09 financial year,
which means it won’t go any higher than 4%. To SBS, this offer is
“reasonable” and with the added possibility of a PMP bonus, staff would
be ahead. This is ironic, given management has already recognised the
flaws and unfairness created by the PMP system.
These figures are based on predictions dependant on how much funding
SBS will receive by the Federal Government in 2010-2013 as well as other
future financial revenue (eg. advertising).
Replacement PMP
On the advice of your unions, management’s proposed performance system to
replace PMPs – tentatively called MyCareer@SBS – will be put on the SBS intranet
for staff to review. Already, your unions have gained management’s commitment
to:
remove the punitive clauses where staff could be demoted or have their
salary decreased if they couldn’t remedy unsatisfactory performance; and
Duty Statements to be drafted in consultation with SBS staff and your
unions.
Where to from this?
It’s now up to us as SBS staff to act together with your unions to make
management take us seriously. Show management you’re committed to making sure we
get a decent pay rise by coming along to our meetings.
Sydney PAID TIME report back meetings
Tuesday 2 September at 1.30pm in Conference Room A
