EBA CAMPAIGN UPDATE #1
This Thursday 24 October, ANMF members will commence protected industrial action at Arcadia Aged Care and Oak Towers Aged Care as part of your campaign for a fair enterprise agreement that protects your wages and conditions in any sale of the facilities to a new buyer.
In the Fair Work Commission last week, Churches of Christ indicated that the prospective buyer did not want to participate in negotiations. Churches of Christ offered a 1.5% administrative wage increase in return for suspension of our protected action. This would still have left you without an enforceable agreement with-up to-date wages and allowances and was rejected.
The protected industrial action to commence on Thursday includes wearing ANMF campaign T shirts, handing out ‘Dear Resident’ letters about the campaign, writing letters to the editor, calling talkback radio, posting on social media and imposing administrative bans. The protected industrial action is designed to ensure resident health, safety and welfare is not at risk. The full list is set out below.
The main immediate action at 7am Thursday 24 October is to start wearing a campaign T shirt. Please note you cannot start any of the protected industrial actions listed below before 7am Thursday 24 October.
Your ANMF Organisers Simon Olden (Oak Towers) and Lisa Miller (Arcadia) will be visiting each facility to support you.
Campaign resources
ANMF Organisers will distribute campaign materials which will also be available through the ANMF Churches of Christ campaign page at anmfvic.asn.au/cceba.
ANMF will publish a resources page where you will find:
- Dear Resident and family letters
- Speak out information (to help you speak to local media and talkback radio)
- How to implement social media work bans
- FAQ on protected industrial action and your rights
- Information for senior nurses during protected industrial action
- Teams backgrounds
- The campaign message for your work emails
Stop work and community rallies
ANMF also gave your employer notice that we will hold a STOP WORK and MEETING outside your facility on the following dates:
- Arcadia: Monday 28 October 1.30–4.30pm
- Oak Towers: Tuesday 29 October 1.30–4.30pm
We ask all morning and afternoon staff to either stop work 90 minutes before your usual shift finish time (AM shift) or not go in to work until 90 minutes after your usual shift start time (PM shift).
These stop-work meetings are item 23 on the protected industrial action order: Single and/or consecutive work stoppages of up to four (4) hours duration including such stoppages to travel for and to attend stop-work meetings (including those organised and directed by the ANMF).
ANMF staff will be there from 1pm and stay until 5pm to support staff. We will provide light lunch and drinks.
Download Acadia stop-work rally poster.
Download the Oak Towers stop-work rally poster.
Take photos and video of your action
Once the protected industrial action starts, take photos and short video of members wearing the campaign t-shirts or reading their letter to the editor or Churches of Christ management so we can share these on ANMF’s social media channels and in our publications. Please don’t email photos or video as the quality will be reduced. Instead upload the original-sized files to our Churches of Christ Dropbox folder via https://anmfvic.asn.au/ccbox.
Hardship fund and reporting pay docking threats or harassment
It is your right under the Fair Work Act to take protected industrial action in support of the campaign for an enterprise agreement.
‘Protected’ means you cannot be terminated or disciplined for taking industrial action – provided it is action within the list below. If, or when, we move to other items like shutting beds or stopping work then management still have the right to dock pay for the time of the stoppage e.g. if you stop work for two hours then they can deduct two hours pay only.
ANMF will support members who are threatened, intimidated or harassed or who lose pay as a result of taking protected industrial action. Where a member loses income as a result of protected industrial action and is facing hardship, the ANMF (Vic Branch) will support that member financially through our hardship fund. In the recent Bolton Clarke dispute we paid out over $34,000 to members in over 300 claims.
During the protected industrial action campaign members have access to two forms to:
- report pay docking threats, intimidation and harassment via anmfvic.asn.au/ccreport.
- make a hardship fund application to be supported by your union via anmfvic.asn.au/cchardshipform. Please note members will need to upload pay slip evidence of pay docking as part of any application.
Who can take the protected industrial action?
ANMF members who are employed by Churches of Christ either as registered nurses, enrolled nurses or personal care workers.
What is the protected industrial action?
Following the successful protected industrial action ballot, ANMF wrote to your employer on 20 October 2024 to provide the required (minimum) three working days’ notice of the industrial action. Here is the full list of protected industrial action that can be taken from 7am Thursday 24 October:
1. Delaying or restricting the performance of normal duties through a ban on the employer’s uniform policy or dress code, for the purpose of engaging with media, staff, patients, visitors, residents/patients and their families about the proposed agreement, with employees wearing, distributing and displaying ANMF campaign materials such as t-shirts, badges, written communications, stickers in support of the proposed agreement.
2. An indefinite or periodic ban on performing work in clothes or uniforms which do not have bargaining campaign material and/or badges attached, except for any required PPE.
3. Interrupting or stopping work to attach union campaign material to work clothing.
4. Interrupting or stopping work to write messages in support of the proposed enterprise agreement on the outside of Churches of Christ Care vehicles and/or equipment and/or infrastructure using means that will not cause damage to vehicles, equipment or infrastructure.
5. Administrative bans, including the refusal to collect, record, complete or document non-clinical/administrative information required by the employer including but not limited to processing of invoices or accounts, start and finish times of appointments, outcome measures, vehicle logbooks, statistical data, daily returns, but excluding any report directly related to patient/resident or staff safety.
6. A ban on the collection and/or entry of any data (that is not required by law to be entered into the patient/resident record or related directly to patient/resident or staff safety) and a refusal to record, collect or complete data required by the employer.
7. A refusal to implement any workplace or system change proposed by management, subject to the discretion of the ANMF Branch Secretary in circumstances where the Secretary is satisfied that if the change did not proceed, it may negatively impact on staff or patient/resident safety.
8. A ban on the completing of any paperwork or electronic forms in residential aged care other than that directly related to the documenting of resident care.
9. A ban on providing information to management in relation to who is participating in protected industrial action.
10. Stopping work for up to 10 minutes duration to explain to clients and patients/residents and visitors to the employer or in a residential location the purpose of the protected industrial action.
11. Taking the full period of all breaks (including meal breaks and rest/tea breaks).
12. Interrupting and/or stopping work to add EBA campaign messages to email signatures and screen savers.
13. A ban on sending emails unless they contain the following text:
Nurses, carers and allied health staff at Churches of Christ Care work hard to care for our residents. However, we are struggling to meet cost of living pressures. At the same time increased acuity and workload pressures have created a difficult working environment, with new staff being difficult to attract and retain. The current enterprise agreement expired in 2020.
The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation is trying to negotiate a new enterprise agreement with management on our behalf. We are asking for better and competitive wages and conditions that are equal to other aged care providers. We are asking for decent working conditions including earlier access to long service leave, better parental leave and better annual leave to make our working lives better and to retain the staff who care for vulnerable residents.
We ask for your support and understanding as we engage in protected industrial action in support of a fair outcome. See www.anmfvic.asn.au for more information.
14. Interrupting and/or stoppages of work of up to one hour per occasion to communicate with the media, post photos, change their background on electronic communications or write a message on social media about issues relating to enterprise bargaining (having regard to patient confidentiality and s. 141 of the Health Services Act).
15. A ban on working overtime directed or requested by Churches of Christ Care.
16. A ban on working beyond or outside ordinary starting and finishing times unless overtime is approved by the employer in writing and in advance.
17. A ban or limitation on any response to any work-related emails, telephone calls or other communication from Churches of Christ Care, unless the email is directly related to patient/resident or staff safety.
18. A ban or limitation on receiving or responding to any telephone calls, emails or communication from Churches of Christ management during breaks.
19. A ban on the movement or redeployment of any employee from one location to any other location at Churches of Christ Care.
Got a query?
If you have any queries please contact your Organiser Simon Olden (Oak Towers) or Lisa Miller (Arcadia) through records@anmfvic.asn.au
