AMERICOLD UWU MEMBERS
November EBA Report Back
At our 6th EBA meeting on 25th Nov 2020, we received Americolds an update of what they are prepared to offer. Please read carefully as we will be asking you to vote on what you think!
Remember the Majority of workers voted for NO PICK RATES & A FAIR REDUNDANCY! If we stand united we can win these important claims to protect workers in the long term. Good Pay doesn’t help when you are off work injured!!!
OUR CLAIMS |
AMERICOLD’S RESPONSE |
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Pay Rise (12% over 2 years) |
Company: 4 year agreement with pay rises of Year 1: 2.25% Year 2: 2.5% Year 3: 2.75% Year 4: 3% Total: 10.5% over 4 years meaning after 4 years we will be getting paid $39.06 per hour.
We will be asking you to vote on whether we should keep pushing with this claim. |
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No Pick Rates, Variance or Incentive Scheme |
REJECTED – We served them this ideal clause: Performance Standard or Rate:
This will not remove the variance or wfm but will prevent the company from disciplining workers on those systems.. There are already 3 Coles DCs with this clause so we know companies can operate successfully with this claim. This was discussed at length but no understanding was reached. We will be asking you to vote to keep pushing for this! |
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Redundancy Improvements (Model Clause incl. No Cap) |
We served them an ideal clause…
Redundancy:
The company believes the current provisions are good enough but we also had a lengthy discussion over this and hope to receive development on Wednesday. We will be asking you to vote to keep pushing for this! |
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Early Morning Shift Allowance incl. 10min Break Time if starting prior to 5am |
REJECTED – The company is unwilling to move on this issue.
We will be asking you to vote on whether we should keep pushing for this or agree to drop |
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Base rate increased to double time over weekends and Permanent Employees able to work 7 Days |
REJECTED – Americold has said they will drop their claim of reducing Sunday rate if we drop this one.
We will be asking you to vote on whether we should keep pushing for this or agree to drop |
| Workers able to take RDOs over their full roster with no Black Out periods for RDOs or Annual Leave. | AGREED IN PRINCIPLE – AMC have agreed to roster workers over their full working week (including weekends) and the blackout periods.
We will be asking for your vote to accept |
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Permanent workers to enjoy same benefits for Public Holidays as Part Timers in Clause 5.7.2 |
REJECTED – Americold will withdraw their claim on removing these extra PH days if we remove this claim We will be asking you to vote on whether we should keep pushing for this or agree to drop |
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Training & Rotation Improvements – clarity on Step Ups/Team Leader Roles plus permanents given priority of upskilling and rotation. |
CONSIDERING – We don’t want the team leader clause taken out of the EBA. We are worried about steps ups not being paid correctly. AMC has said they will Grandfather the clause for remaining team leaders and start process in 2nd Qtr finalising in 3rd Qtr The company has still to confirm the roles of ‘step ups’ so until that is communicated we are not agreeing to the removal of the Team Leader Clause.
Rotation and Training CONSIDERING – Americold is implementing a training and rotation system and we will use the JCCs to monitor and delegates can check to make sure fair treatment. This is ongoing and a good start to support workers & their morale at work. We will be asking for your vote on if this is something we agree on |
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Increased Sick/Personal Leave Entitlements |
REJECTED – The company have put forward a monetary reward if unpaid, unplanned leave percentage is low and will allow workers to use Toil for periods of planned leave.
We will be asking you to vote on whether we should keep pushing for this or agree to drop |
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Higher Super Contribution |
REJECTED – Will pay as per legislation.
We will be asking you to vote on whether we should keep pushing for this or agree to drop |
| Shift Allowances applied to leave and RDO entitlements + allowance to be paid from afternoon shift start time onwards | REJECTED – But the company have withdrawn their claims on taking away entitlements for Part Timers prior to 2009 and reducing their entitlement to public holidays.
We will be asking you to vote on whether we should keep pushing for this or agree to drop |
| Night Shift able to work a Full Time Roster | CONSIDERING – Americold have said they cannot guarantee a full time roster as night shift volumes are decreasing & that might be worse next year. There are already provisions in our current agreement that allow for this. Americold are telling us the structure in play at the moment may change but they will know more on Dec 6. We asked if they were thinking of removing the night shift or going to a skeleton crew. AMC said they have no ambition right now & it will depend on the tender with Woolworths. |
| Paid Breaks – 2 x 20mins | REJECTED – The majority of workers agreed in the last mass meetings to drop this claim. |
AMERICOLD’S CLAIMS |
UWU’S RESPONSE |
|---|---|
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That the current agreement form part of the old agreement |
AGREED IN PRINCIPLE |
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Any employee who has absented themselves on leave without pay from their ordinary roster during the week, will not be eligible for extra day(s) overtime including weekends for that week; (4.2.3). |
REJECTED – The company has dropped this claim. Our position was, we would only consider this so long as members could still provide proof of absence and if so, still be able to work OT. There will be no change to the current OT practice. |
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Capped sick leave payout & workers restricted to cashing out 40hrs per year |
CONSIDERING
We will be asking for your vote and if members agree |
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TOIL – any unused TOIL will be paid out automatically the week prior to pay rise |
CONSIDERING – The company has now moved further. TOIL can be used for sick if they have no sick balance left and it’s for any extended planned sick leave. So it can’t be used for single days, unless planned e.g doc appointment. For example: If Tegan hurt herself outside of work and had no sick leave left, she could access her TOIL balance if the injury was was going to take some time to heal
We will be asking for your vote and if members agree |
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Reward for absenteeism rates being below a specific percentage for the site; (New clause) |
CONSIDERING – Details of the clause will be communicated prior to mass meetings next week. This gives workers more money if unplanned absenteeism is low across the site. No negatives to workers.
We will be asking for your vote and if members agree |
We feel that while our conditions are good at Americold they are under threat by a competitive industry and automation. Together as a collective we bargain to protect those hard won conditions and stand united to win the best outcome for all members.
Report back mass meetings will be held next week. This will allow our members time to read and digest. When we meet for our mass meetings we will be asking you to vote on what matters the most to you!