Bargaining update
Opal has now provided the first matters that they will agree to for a replacement enterprise agreement to the Opal Healthcare Enterprise Agreement 2023 and the BlueCross Residential and HomeCare, ANMF and HWU Enterprise Agreement 2024. Opal has agreed to long service leave access at seven years at the rate of 0.8667 weeks per year of service with the rate to increase to 1.7333 weeks per year of service from 10 years. Opal also agreed to increase paid primary carer parental leave to 12 weeks.
Opal has not yet provided a wages offer however has signalled it will be provided shortly.
Unfortunately, Opal has continued to maintain that the basis for the agreement will be the Opal agreement and have rejected improvements to staffing claims including improved clauses for replacement of staff on unplanned leave, staffing improvements and workload clauses. ANMF continue to raise issues with the current agreements as identified by members and seek that Opal resolves these issues in the proposed agreement.
We will report back to members when further updates are available.
Who can be an ANMF member?
ANMF has been asked by Opal staff who can be an ANMF member – it is important to note that all Personal Care Workers, Enrolled Nurses and Registered Nurses in private aged care are eligible to be a member of ANMF.
The more members we have the stronger our campaign can be – show Opal that it is Time to Care by making sure as many nurses and personal carers as possible are ANMF members – join here: anmfvic.asn.au/membership
Members have the power in enterprise bargaining – and numbers count! Now is your opportunity to make your voice heard and let Opal know that it’s Time to Care and your wages and conditions need to improve!
It will be up to members as to what they are willing to accept for this future agreement and what they are prepared to do if Opal don’t provide an adequate offer – you need to be a member to be part of this discussion!
National Aged Care Campaign
ANMF has launched ‘Australia needs care you can count on’ this month, calling on the federal government to deliver urgent reforms in the aged care sector, including mandated staffing ratios.
The campaign follows the ANMF’s recent national survey of frontline aged care workers, which found the sector was still experiencing systemic understaffing, increased workplace violence, cost-cutting and a lack of transparency for billions of dollars in taxpayer funding.
Despite some historic changes following the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, the ANMF campaign demands further reform in three critical areas to ensure older Australians receive the care they deserve:
- Mandated staffing ratios and skills mix across all shifts to replace the current care minutes system and align with evidence-based benchmarks, delivering higher quality care and mandating a proper framework for aged care providers to meet.
- Preventing workplace violence and aggression by implementing a 10-point plan and person-centred care planning to better protect nurses and care-workers from physical, verbal and emotional violence.
- Accountability and transparency for $25 billion in aged care funding by introducing public reporting of aged care providers’ financial performance and use of public funding.
Further information can be found on the ANMF On the Record here: otr.anmfvic.asn.au/articles/anmf-launches-national-aged-care-campaign-australia-needs-care-you-can-count-on/
Next steps for ANMF Opal members to show Opal it’s Time to Care
ANMF visits to Opal residential facilities continue so we can meet with members and discuss the current status of enterprise bargaining and what members can do to escalate current issues.
Have you checked that you are:
- Claiming and getting paid for any interrupted meal break
- Being provided paid time on your shift to do any required mandatory training including online modules
- Getting responses to requests for annual leave in a reasonable timeframe
- Not being asked to backfill your own personal or carers leave
- Being provided with your roster 14 days in advance
These are common issues that are being raised and should be fixed by Opal management. It is crucial to keep escalating concerns to management and raising with ANMF if not appropriately resolved by management.
Members can let Opal know
- Making sure your details are up to date. ANMF members should ensure their details are up to date to ensure they are receiving campaign communications. To update your details, visit the member portal via members.anmfvic.asn.au.
- Making sure as many nurses and personal carers as possible are ANMF members – join here: anmfvic.asn.au/membership
- Making sure you have at least one job rep for your facility – preferably two! Visit anmfvic.asn.au/reps/resources/role-of-the-job-rep to find out more. Please let us know if you are interested by emailing your Organiser (see below table) at records@anmfvic.asn.au.
- Making sure you have at least one Health and Safety Representative (HSR) for your facility. Visit anmfvic.asn.au/reps/become-a-hsr to find out more. Please let us know if you are interested by emailing your Organiser (see below table) at records@anmfvic.asn.au.
- Downloading the ANMF log of claims, log of claims poster and the latest newsflashes and ensure that these are displayed at your facility via anmfvic.asn.au/opaleba
- Attending the ANMF visits at your residence– details of the visits will be sent to your private email.
- Ensuring you are raising any current issues that are occurring at your workplace to Opal and to the ANMF if they are not adequately responded to by Opal. You can access your enterprise agreements (including the relevant provisions on being paid for mandatory training, leave, breaks and entitlements) through the member portal here: members.anmfvic.asn.au. Raise with the ANMF if not adequately responded to via the member portal here: anmfvic.asn.au/memberassistance
- Lodging incident reports or email management where there is not safe staffing, inappropriate workloads, where staffing does not allow breaks to be taken or where staffing is not adequately replaced.
- Opal has a responsibility together with employees to maintain appropriate workloads
- Employees need to raise up to Opal management in writing with specific information regarding the concerns, time and dates.
- Members should raise the issue with the ANMF if not adequately responded to by Opal management via the member portal here: anmfvic.asn.au/memberassistance. Specific information regarding what the workload concerns with details are crucial for the ANMF to raise a dispute if the matters are not resolved.
Further information regarding what is an EBA, how ANMF negotiates an EBA and your role as an ANMF member can be found here: otr.anmfvic.asn.au/tags/ebas-101
If you have any queries or feedback regarding bargaining, please contact your ANMF Industrial Relations Organiser (see table below) by email at records@anmfvic.asn.au.
