RBA has put forward the first pay offer for our new Enterprise Agreement (EA) and it’s below our expectations. Recent communications on RBA’s Intranet and comments from the Deputy Governor, Michele Bullock during the 12 July Bank-wide webinar, have placed unreasonable pressure on us to vote ‘yes’ to this subpar agreement.
You do not have to vote ‘yes’.
We know staff may be concerned about missing out on a pay increase. However, we’ll be calling on RBA to commit to back paying staff in our next meeting, which they are able to do on any increases for this year if negotiations continue beyond September.
In our latest round of bargaining on 3 July, RBA responded to our Log of Claims, declining nearly all the claims we presented. The rejection of all our ‘progressive leave’ claims was disappointing. However, we believe this is because the Bank needs further information on the adoption of these leave types across the public and private sector. The FSU will provide the Bank with more information about this at the next bargaining meeting.
Paid parental leave
The RBA has proposed an increase to Paid Parental Leave from 14 weeks to 16 weeks, a compromise to our proposed 26 weeks. However, this offer is still below the benefits offered by comparable organisations, like APRA.
Annual wage increases
After consulting with staff, we have responded to RBA indicating that it needs to reconsider its offer of 4% in 2023, 3.5% in 2024 and 3% in 2025. This exact offer was recently put to APS employees who voted it down by an overwhelming 86%. We will continue to seek a wage increase that keeps up with the cost-of-living.
You can also view RBA’s current projections for wage growth until 2025, which are higher than their current offer here.
Cashing out of RDO scheme
The RBA declined our claim for a voluntary opt out from the RDO scheme with no reduction in hours for a salary increase. Our claim was to offer a choice to employees who wished to increase their salaries in the same way as new employees who do not opt into the RDO scheme.
Union communication to staff
Although the RBA advised it is willing to allow contact information for Workplace Representatives on the Intranet, it declined our request for union communications to be shared there and declined to reinstate a Workplace Representative’s attendance at employee inductions.
Poll: What do you think of RBA’s responses to our claims
This poll is completely confidential, with names and contact details only being collected to help the Finance Sector Union communicate with and work with you to make your employment fair and safe.
If the rejection of any of these claims directly affects you, feel free to reach out to one of your Workplace Representatives or the FSU to discuss further.