To: Peter Steet - CEO
Mater - It's time to Finish the HP EBA
Mater HP Staff have been in negotiations for over 12 months, We have taken Industrial Action, Voted No, and attempted to reach an agreement that staff and management can both support.
Most HP employees realise it is a difficult tightrope for the Mater to walk, having the unenviable position of providing cost-effective not for profit healthcare whilst ensuring the best possible quality of care for our patients.
Mater Management has stalled bargaining citing COVID19 as the reason.
Staff would like to suggest the following to address the Bargain:
You offer HP's a 12-month rollover of the agreement, with a wage increase so we can all continue working in the COVID19 Pandemic to support the health of our community.
You put a ballot out for the HP draft agreement, Removing the Two-Tiered wage structure for Pathology and Pharmacy if you did this we would be in a position to support the EBA Offer.
Two options would see support from staff and unions to settle the agreement, removal of the proposed two-tiered pay structure for pathology and pharmacy or the rolling-over the current agreement for all HP employees.
Why is this important?
Pathology and pharmacy are often tasked departmentally with providing services integral to a highly functioning tertiary hospital which are specialised, cumbersome and not necessarily profitable. In recent years both departments have undergone significant staff reductions and cost cutting in order to achieve better financial sustainability, seeing many of our senior staff and mentors made redundant. We've worked tirelessly to maintain the quality of service despite this. We were promised that a restructure would solve the financial burden on the hospital to continue to provide such services, however less than 12 months later we are being asked to take a 10-20% reduction in pay for new staff members. A move that would create two classes of employees performing the same work, and inevitably an unhealthy workplace. During negotiations we have been benchmarked against unfair private industry comparators, competitors that can pick and choose which services they provide, namely profitable ones. Specifically in Pathology they are large multinational corporations all of which do not currently provide direct services to tertiary hospitals.