ACHA Enterprise Bargaining Information

• Your current enterprise agreement expired at the end of June 2021. 
• The ANMF initiated bargaining with ACHA in May 2021, and in July 2021, ACHA officially agreed to commence enterprise bargaining. 
• At the commencement of bargaining, the ANMF served an extensive log of claims on ACHA on behalf of members. 
• The parties have met seven times to negotiate a new agreement, however no new agreement has yet been reached.
• Members have offered considerable concessions to the ACHA, dropping various claims to focus on priority claims, including a safe staffing clause, workload management clause, increased annual leave for nurses rostered on call, increased handover time, a lead apron allowance, increased personal and parental leave, and of course, a decent wage increase. Click here to view a table setting out the current status of your claims and a comparison with current public sector entitlements.
• ACHA have refused all ANMF staffing/workload claims, but late last year indicated they would draft an alternative safe staffing clause for members to consider. ACHA have not followed through with this promise and so the staffing/workload claims remain at a standstill.
• When we told ACHA last year that members had endorsed taking protected industrial action, they improved their wages offer to:  1.75% first 2 years (up from 1.5%), 2.25% third year (up from 2%). This is still below industry standard.
• We have now reached a point where we need to follow through with action.
• The Fair Work Commission has granted us an Order to ballot all members employed at ACHA, to ask if they support taking industrial action. Soon you will receive a ballot form in the post asking you if you support taking any of the below three types of action:
  • Wearing ANMF stickers on work clothing during shift time
  • Refusing to fill out private health fund billings forms inclusive of Coronary Care Certificates, Intensive Care Certificates, and ANZICS Core APD Data Collection Forms
  • Refusing to record Commonwealth Medical Benefits Scheme (CMBS) Numbers on Perioperative Nursing Care Records

• We need 50% + 1 of members across all ACHA sites to vote Yes in the ballot. If we can get this majority of members to support taking some form of industrial action, then members will have the option to take that action together, and together put pressure on ACHA for a better deal!
• Why can only members take industrial action? Under the Fair Work Act, it is only the employees who are represented by the bargaining representative (ANMF) who are permitted to engage in protected industrial action. This means that only ANMF members are able to vote on your right to take industrial action and only ANMF members can take protected industrial action (if the ballot is successful).