Further negotiations took place on Monday 7 April 2008 with the Department of Human Services (DHS – the government) and the Victorian Hospitals Industrial Association (VHIA – representing the employers) under the auspices of Commissioner Gay of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission.

Agreement was largely reached on all outstanding matters, including wage increases, conditions of employment and productivity measures. This put us in the position of having a Heads of Agreement which we could recommend that members accept.

But we were unable to reach agreement with the DHS over the operative date of the agreement. The DHS has refused to agree to the date of operation of the agreement being 1 October 2007, which is the day after the expiration of the previous agreement. It is also the date of operation of the first increase to nurses and HACSU members under their new EBAs. The last increase under that agreement was October 2006.

Negotiations broke down at that point.

What was particularly galling about the government’s approach to backpay, is that their representative consistently refused to negotiate with us during 2007.

However, we are continuing with direct discussions with the DHS over the matter of the operative date. We hope to be able to achieve a positive outcome in those discussions. For that reason the meeting scheduled for Monday has been postponed until Thursday 17 April 2008 at 4.00 pm at Trades Hall. Please try to ensure that your department/worksite is represented at that meeting. All members are welcome, and urged to attend if possible.

What is the Commission process from here if we are unable to reach agreement over operative date?

If the issue of the operative date is not resolved, the matter will go to hearing by a Full Bench of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission under the provisions of the Workplace Relations Act 1996. This legislation, which was introduced by the previous (Howard) government, does not permit the Commission to award a retrospective date. If the matter goes to a Full Bench, then all offers will be ‘off the table’ and everything which was in the employer and the Union logs of claims will be open to be arbitrated.