UNITED ED VOICE United Voice Presentation The Star Enterprise Agreement 2012 Bargaining Meeting 5 19 June 2012
Background United Voice has a long and proud history of organising the workers at The Star and achieving excellent outcomes on their behalf. We come to these negotiations with a clear mandate and a simple claim. We want a fair pay increase that maintains the value of real wages, we want recognition of the impact of work/life balance in rostering, we want the valuable role played by delegates acknowledged and we want to not go backwards, to not lose any of the conditions we have won over the years. We want to constructively engage in these negotiations and to secure and timely and fair agreement.
The Context On 31 May 2012 Echo Entertainment issued the following statement: “ Revenues at The Star (excluding IRB) are up 5.5% in the 2012 year to 28 May on the previous corresponding period, .... gaming volume and revenue growth has accelerated in May and the company remains optimistic on the outlook for The Star as operations move through the opening phase .” Echo Entertainment’s net profit went from $193.8 million in 2010 to $226 million in 2011. That’s a net profit increase of 16.6%. Echo Entertainment makes $25,900 per hour, 24 hours a day, every day of the year. On the basis of such positive news we fail to see the fiscal rationale for the changes being proposed by The Star.
The Star’s Broad Bargaining Objectives In the meeting on 6 June 2012 The Star outlined some broad bargaining objectives: 1. Fair and reasonable wage increase 2. Remove areas of duplication and clauses that are covered by federal or state legislation. 3. Revise agreement to make it easier for team members, managers and the union to operate and understand. 4. Deliver efficiencies and productivity to align the agreement with operational needs moving forward. 5. Ensure the Agreement meets the better off overall test and complies with National Employment Standards. In principle United Voice has no difficulty with these objectives.
The Star’s Underlying Assertions The Star has put forward it’s proposal based on a number of assertions which United Voice does not accept: • That our members and The Star’s managers struggle to interpret the agreement. • That there is a greater need for operational flexibility that cannot be effected under the current agreement. • That the Award is a benchmark that terms and conditions of employment should be measured against. • That The Star needs to implement cost cutting measures. United Voice members consider that these assertions are patronising and a thinly veiled attempt to write off terms and conditions of employment that they have fought for and won.
United Voice’s Position United Voice is engaging in bargaining on the following premise: • That our members understand their terms and conditions of employment and will not accept a diminution of them. • That The Star is a profit making entity who values the work of their employees and appreciates the need to show this with a reasonable pay increase. • That the Award is a bare legal minimum that does not reflect the standards in the Casino industry. • That the benchmark conditions are those currently operating at The Star. • That The Star has sufficient “flexibility” under the current agreement and in this context “flexibility” is merely a code word for the capacity to have people work at the will of The Star.
United Voice’s Document United Voice is prepared to consider a re-write of the document if management is struggling to interpret the current document. However, if The Star seeks to eliminate existing conditions it needs to present its case and seek our members’ agreement. We will not accept the premise that we have to fight to get current conditions back into the agreement and that we have to sell off current conditions to secure a fair pay rise. There is no evidence to suggest that this is necessary. As such we table a draft document to discuss.
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