News
21st October, 2022
St. John Enterprise Agreement – Bargaining Update – October
The Victorian Ambulance Union Incorporated met with representatives from St. John on Tuesday, 18 October 2022, to continue bargaining for an Enterprise Agreement. In the meeting, the VAU received a response from our offer for a classification structure that included 7 years of service.
Disappointingly, the only change to the wage offer from St. John was agreement to include one extra year level on the wages table. This would mean that incremental pay increases for years of service would be offered to staff for the first four years of their service, as opposed to the current three years. After this, wages would reach their maximum.
Effectively, this means that an employee who has been with St. John for eight or nine years would get the same wages as another staff member, of the same qualification, who had been with St. John for four years. St. John representatives did not provide detail on how much a four-year employee would receive. They have stated that they would provide a figure in the near future.
Next Steps:
No date has yet been set for the next bargaining meeting. St. John’s continued delays in providing details of its claim have frustrated the progress of bargaining. St. John has committed to provide a table detailing their wages offer including the fourth year of service increment. Once that has been received, the VAU will conduct meetings with VAU members to determine the next step forward.
In conclusion, the VAU would like to strongly encourage those members, who have not yet nominated the VAU as their bargaining representative, to do so without delay. The importance of this is likely to become more apparent over the coming weeks and months.
If any VAU member has questions in relation to SJAV bargaining, or if you need a copy of the nomination form, please contact either Bruce or Kerry using the details below:
- Bruce Fine – [email protected] 0480 194 711
- Kerry McLean – [email protected] 0480 194 783