This week over 70 Queensland Public Sector Union (QPSU) and Liquor Hospitality Miscellaneous Union (LHMU) delegates spent a full day together looking at your thoughts, ideas and wants for this next round of collective bargaining.

These were collated into a formal log of claims drafted by delegates on the day, and you will be able to read this list of claims on the website soon – we are doing a final collation and draft now and will send the link to members in the coming days.

Thank you to the many members who completed surveys, gave information to delegates and particularly to the delegates on the HP EB2 Steering Committee and to those who delegates who took part in this day who compiled an excellent log of claims document.

More information coming soon!

What’s Next?

It is vital that all members are aware of what is contained in their log of claims, Health Practitioners (HP) delegates will be conducting meetings in your workplaces to make sure that everyone know what is being asked for.

All HP delegates will soon receive a special kit that includes speaker’s notes and a copy of the log of claims in order to facilitate union meetings about what it is union members want in this round of negotiations.

LHMU Members will also receive some paperwork in the mail in relation to some discipline specific matters requiring endorsement.

These meetings are the first step in enabling all members to speak with a strong voice. This means: having a majority of HP's as members of their union; a delegate in every workplace, and active participation in all HP events.

If you believe that Health Practitioners deserve better wages, better career paths, allowances, and all of the other benefits that the Log of claims offers – you have to be prepared to join the campaign.

Talk to your colleagues about the significance of maintaining union strength by joining their union, or if you are not a member click on the following link to join your union today.

HPIBB Update

The Health Practitioners Interest Based Bargaining Group (HPIBB) met on 10th June. Quorum was not reached due to the late confirmation on the meeting leading to an inability of clinical delegates to attend. The members of HPIBB who were in attendance discussed progress around the appeals and the district reviews. QH is developing a proposal to present to the stronger together team on how they propose to handle the back pay of higher duties during the period between May 2008 and November 2009. Health refused to consider developing consistent Terms of Reference (TOR) for the Health Practitioner Oversight Committees (HPOCs).

Reports were also presented around the projects and reviews including the models of care, workload management and the relief pool. Unfortunately Health seem to have placed working out a solution to the issues around Rural and Remote incentives into the too hard basket and are not progressing to create a positive outcome from the ‘reviews’ promised in Health Practitioner Enterprise Bargaining agreement 1 (HPEB1). The next scheduled meeting with be July 8th.

The HPIBB is continuing to meet and work on implementation issues over the coming weeks. Next week will feature a two day lock down in an attempt to finalise the resolution of the Appeals Process. We will keep members updated on any outcomes.

Many of the claims in the next round of bargaining still relate to implementation of the first HP agreement due to the delays in implementation.

Do you want a real wages cut? No?! Become more involved...

With the 2.5% wages policy from the government and continued delays in implementation of HP EB 1 it is an important time to be active and involved as a union member.

The campaign for a new HP agreement relies on all of us: the great outcomes we have achieved in the past have only come about because of the many workers who have made the decision to support their union colleagues.

We have already seen QPSU and LHMU members and delegates holding joint meetings and activities in their workplaces under the banner of HP Stronger Together during this campaign.

There are many ways that you can support this campaign and achieve great outcomes for HP’s across the state. Union campaigns are successful because of the active involvement of the majority of workers in the affected areas.

Experience in recent years has confirmed: The greater the number of workers who are active members of their union, the better the results we can achieve as a group. When we stand together, we can put the agencies and politicians under pressure to do the right thing.

We have seen this with the campaign for recognition and better career paths that led to the creation of the HP stream. Union members achieved that great result because they combined resources as a group and raised awareness through campaign activities and events.

We would encourage you to become more involved by registering your interest in being involved in the HP Stronger Together campaign.

It's been a long road for Queensland Health HP’s to gain everything we have through the creation of the HP stream. This coming campaign is an important time to entrench the reforms that union members have won, improve the process for career progression, and make sure that all health practitioners are appropriately recognized.

As soon as the Log of Claims is published the next step will be to ensure all members are informed about the aims of the campaign and what we’re trying to win, forming a good communication network in your area is the next critical step.

We look forward to working with you as the HP Stronger Together campaign progresses.