EB8 and payroll update

Published: 3 November 2011

Negotiations are now under way for a new EB8 agreement which details the wages and conditions of all Queensland Health nurses and midwives.

Negotiations for our new agreement commenced on 18 October 2011 and a hectic schedule of meetings will take place right up until Christmas.

The current nurses’ and midwives’ EB7 agreement expires on 31 March 2012.

Wage rise for some non-nursing staff

We have received advice that yesterday the Australian Workers' Union (AWU) – which represents Queensland Health operational staff – reached an in-principle agreement with Queensland Health for its members to receive a 3 per cent a year (or $30 per week whichever is greater) pay rise over three years.

The negotiations of the AWU and other non-nursing health unions are separate to the QNU’s nursing and midwifery EB8 negotiations. As such, nurses and midwives have not been made, nor have we accepted, any wages or agreement offer from Queensland Health.

Negotiations for the nurses’ and midwives EB8 agreement only commenced last week as our current agreement does not expire until March 2012. That said, as negotiations take time, it is in our best interests to finalise our negotiations as quickly as possible.

What are we negotiating on?

Keeping nursing and midwifery strong – this is the catch phrase of our new EB8 campaign.

Workloads, staffing shortages, skill mix, an out-dated nursing and midwifery classification structure, a lack of control over nursing and midwifery budgets, a loss of faith in your employer – these issues are undermining nursing and midwifery.

Through our EB8 campaign we have an opportunity to keep nursing and midwifery strong. By addressing these issues we can ensure nursing and midwifery remains a strong and attractive career option without compromising our practice or the quality of care we provide.

We are negotiating in uncertain times – enterprise bargaining campaigns are underway for other health staff, we continue to negotiate on a way forward to the payroll debacle, and there is political uncertainty about when the next state election will be called.

This is why it is vitally important that we stay focused and do all we can to progress negotiations as far as possible before Christmas.

Click here to view our ‘bargaining items’.

Get involved by becoming an EB8 Contact

If you want to achieve good wages and conditions in your EB8 agreement then you need to get active in our campaign.

Become an EB8 Contact and increase our chances of success. Being an EB8 Contact is simple: you will be responsible for receiving and distributing QNU information to, and having conversations with, your workplace colleagues.

As an EB8 Contact you are our eyes and ears in the workplace and you put us in a good negotiating position by ensuring your colleagues are informed and ready to be involved as our campaign progresses.

We need to send a clear message of our strength and resolve to Queensland Health and one way to do this is to advise them of the hundreds (probably thousands) of members who are working across the state on our campaign.

Click here to become an EB8 Contact.

You can also become more active in our campaign by attending local QNU EB8 Training. This is a really good opportunity for you to learn more about the campaign and how through the collective we really can make a difference for the wages and conditions of nurses and midwives.

Attend your local report back meeting

Achieving the best possible outcome for nurses and midwives and ultimately our community relies on your involvement.

Report back meetings are currently occurring or being scheduled to occur in many local workplaces. The purpose of these meetings is to brief you on the list of items we are seeking to be included in our next agreement and to also let you know about our negotiation strategy. These meetings help us get a strong feel of the views of nurses and midwives across the state.

These meetings are paid work meetings, subject to not affecting service delivery, and Queensland Health has been asked to use its best endeavours to ensure all available nurses and midwives are encouraged to attend.

So look out for local notices and attend the QNU workplace meetings where and when you can.

Click here to find a meeting near you.

Check out our new campaign webspace

Our EB8 campaign webspace is now live. It is designed to bring you the latest information on our campaign. It’s a place where you can access campaign material, read the latest news, view photos from campaign events and hear more from QNU Secretary Beth Mohle and Assistant Secretary Des Elder.

Click here to visit our website.

Much to do for EB8 and payroll matters

We have a lot of work ahead of us that’s for sure.

Rest assured that we remain focused on achieving the best possible outcome for you – the nurses and midwives of Queensland Health.

This includes continuing to prioritise the finalisation of the issues contained in the Heads of Agreement as a way forward from the payroll debacle. We are keen to separate out the problematic issues and get this agreement in place to ensure we all have some certainty going forward.

It is as frustrating for us as I am sure it is for you that this agreement has not yet been finalised. Each day and each week we invest considerable time, energy and resourcing into negotiating around the issues contained in the agreement. But these negotiations have been made so much more difficult by the number of stakeholders involved in these negotiations, and the variety of conflicting views, as well as the new problems that continue to present themselves. Any agreement must apply to all staff working in Queensland Health, and as such we are unable to seek a separate payroll agreement for nurses and midwives. Be assured however, that we are doing whatever we can to advance your interests by addressing the causes of the generation of overpayments and underpayments.

Many of the important elements of the Heads of Agreement are already being implemented, such as a refocusing of efforts on underpayments, the appointment of the Workplace Ombudsman to handle payroll complaints and a continuing moratorium on the recovery of previously notified overpayments. However, we must stay focused to ensure that Queensland Health is fully accountable for fixing the problems.