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While there has been positive movement in areas like parental leave and blended work, critical issues like a fair pay increase remain unresolved.

Here is the current state of play:

The Good

• 20 weeks of paid parental leave.
• The introduction of Blended Working to give us genuine flexibility in where and when we work.
• One additional day of community service leave.
• Additional paid leave is increasing from three days to five days per year.
• Six weeks of paid gender affirmation leave.

The Bad

• No change to the 4.5% year one pay offer – which is still below the current cost of living increases as well as the 5% pay rises that other finance sector employers have given their employees in their enterprise agreements.
• Rejection of separate paid menstrual and menopause leave.
• Rejection of a specific entitlement to paid cultural and religious diversity leave (instead, people from diverse backgrounds can only get access to more leave by giving up a state-based public holiday).
• No increase to superannuation payments leaving us behind other superannuation funds. 
  Seeking the removal of vital tool of trade vehicles and shifting costs and risk to employees.
• Seeking changes to the two-month trial period if a colleague is redeployed to a lower-graded role.

The Ugly

AustralianSuper has said that their proposed pay increases are contingent on:

• Removal of tool of trade vehicles from people who currently access them to do their job; and
• Agreement to make changes to the two month trial period when you accept a lower graded role after your role has been made redundant.

AustralianSuper is holding your pay increase to ransom. The only way to get a pay increase is if we agree to give up important entitlements.

This is not fair.

We deserve a fair pay increase, and we deserve to keep our existing entitlements – it’s a disgrace for the Fund to tell us we only get a pay increase by trading away conditions.

AustralianSuper will only get away with this outrageous offer if we all vote in favour of it. We have the power here – remember the only way that AustralianSuper’s proposals will form part our new enterprise agreement will is if a majority of us vote for it.

And if AustralianSuper management wants our support, it needs to do better.

What happens next?

1. Negotiations continue until we reach agreement in principle or AustralianSuper decides to put its proposal to a vote.
2. If that happens, FSU members will first vote on the proposed enterprise agreement.
3. If FSU members approve the proposed enterprise agreement, all employees will then vote on the proposed enterprise agreement.
4. If a majority of employees who vote, vote in favour of the proposed enterprise agreement, it will go to the Fair Work Commission for approval.

We will be in touch with you in the coming days to hear from you – your voice matters in these negotiations. Keep an eye out for a phone call from your FSU team.

And if you haven’t already, please fill in and share our cost of living survey with your colleagues so that you can add your story to the hundreds already collected. This survey will close THIS FRIDAY so this is your last chance to be heard.