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 About Us  About Unions NSWAbout UnionsWho's WhoInformation Centre What's Going On? Annual Reports   
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John Robertson - Assistant SecretaryResponsibilities
Industrial AgreementsDuring 1998, John co-ordinated the negotiation of project awards and agreements for a number of projects in the building and construction industry. These projects include:-
Each of the agreements and awards involved negotiations with the respective builders and unions to develop arrangements that aim to achieve the completion of the project at least on time and on budget. The agreements and awards deal with issues that increase flexibilities, such as the accumulation of Rostered Days Off, dispute settlement procedures for employer specific disputes, project wide disputes and demarcation disputes. In return, the employees are paid a project productivity allowance for the achievement of agreed milestones identified during the negotiations. In addition to the above, John co-ordinated the negotiation of project agreements for construction work on the following Olympic projects:-
The agreements for the Olympic projects are based on the Memorandum of Understanding developed between the Labor Council, Olympic Projects Unions and the Government. The Memorandum encourages innovation, not only in work methods, but also in the remuneration of workers for improved productivity. John continued to play an integral role with a number of Olympic projects. These included:-
John assisted the CEPU Postal and Telecommunications Branch in a campaign for Telstra employees working on Olympic projects to receive the same project productivity allowances that were paid to other workers. This involved a series of negotiations with Telstra management who were reluctant at first to pay the allowances, but subsequently agreed. In 1998, John led the re-negotiation of wage rates and allowances in the Airport Link - New Southern Railway Construction Enterprise Award. The Award provided the union parties with one opportunity to seek a variation to the wage rates during the construction programme. The first opportunity arose on 1 February, 1998, and this saw the commencement of discussions with the Transfield Bouygues Joint Venture. Issues discussed and agreed included an increase in wage rates of 10%, improved superannuation contributions, increased redundancy entitlements, increased fares and travelling time payments and increased allowance payment for compressed air work. These increases were all achieved with no industrial action. In 1998 John was involved in the re-negotiation of an Enterprise Agreement for the Carlton United Breweries Kent Brewery. The negotiations were conducted over a four month period, with regular meetings of the employees to keep them appraised of the state of play. Over the last five years, the Kent Brewery has become a model site for innovation, workplace flexibility and effective participation of the delegates in the decision making process. This has led to visits from other workplaces, with both management and the delegates looking at how Kent Brewery has implemented and sustained effective change. The final agreement continues the innovative and participative practices that have been developed over the years at the Brewery. The new Enterprise Agreement establishes a set of principles based on the philosophy of "Leading By Learning". These principles are aimed at ensuring the Brewery becomes a leading enterprise and is focused on the business environment. The Agreement defines a leading by learning business as one where individuals, teams, and the enterprise itself, are continually learning and sharing in the development, transfer and use of knowledge and skills to produce continual improvement and the creation of a dynamic comparative advantage. Leading by Learning at Kent Brewery is focusing on:-
The Agreement also contains a set of agreed performance measures that, if met, will provide for an increase in wages over and above those guaranteed during the life of the Agreement, and an annualised salary formula that takes into consideration allowances, and production overtime. Rengo Tokyo DelegationIn November, 1998, John was a member of a Labor Council Delegation, led by Vice President, Michael Williamson, to build on the fraternal relationship between the Labor Council of New South Wales and Rengo Tokyo. During his visit to Japan, John met with officials from Rengo Tokyo and a number of Japanese unions, and visited one of Tokyo's newest gas fired power stations where he met with the union representatives at the power station and was given a tour of the facility. Gas SummitJohn also attended the New South Wales Gas Summit organised by the Premier, the Hon. Bob Carr, MP. The summit was organised as a result of the problems confronting Victoria following the fire and explosion at the Geelong gas plant which saw the complete shutdown of all gas supplies to Victoria and southern New South Wales. The summit looked at issues confronting New South Wales as a result of the crisis, including the standing down of thousands of workers in the manufacturing industry, the potential flow on effects to other workplaces and whether New South Wales would confront the same problems should a similar incident occur. Other ResponsibilitiesJohn's other responsibilities during 1998 included membership on the following boards and committees:-
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