CBS MANAGEMENT ADMITS ITS PROPOSAL TO ABANDON ENTERPRISE BARGAINING WILL STRIP WORKERS’ AVERAGE TAKE-HOME PAY BY A MASSIVE 12.5%
Following months of denials, management at Moonah-based Community Based Support (CBS) has finally admitted its proposal to abandon Enterprise Bargaining negotiations will effectively result in an average 12.5% reduction in take-home pay for its workers.
CBS workers, whose job is to support some of the community’s most vulnerable people, are already amongst the lowest paid members of Tasmania’s workforce.
“A 12.5% drop in take-home pay will devastate CBS workers’ ability to pay their bills and feed their families,” says HACSU Assistant State Secretary Robbie Moore.
“What a nasty Easter gift from CBS Management to its workers.
“If CBS Management gets its way, experienced, committed workers will be driven out of the community sector because they’ll earn similar – or more – money in jobs with considerably less responsibility.
“CBS Management is showing utter contempt for its clients and their families, by saying workers who care for vulnerable people are worth so little. It is hardly a vote of confidence in the value of its workforce and the important service they provide.
“CBS is on track to post a surplus this year but it wants to pay its workers less. It is unfathomably mean-spirited and is contrary to the values that CBS says it believes in.”
Mr Moore says CBS Management admitted to the pay impact during talks on Wednesday 16 April 2014, which HACSU had hoped might pave a positive way forward.
CBS workers have started taking industrial action in order to bring Management back to the bargaining table and Mr Moore says given CBS Management’s unwillingness to negotiate, it is likely that workers will decide to continue and escalate industrial action.
HACSU Assistant State Secretary Robbie Moore
