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 About Us  About Unions NSWAbout UnionsWho's WhoInformation Centre What's Going On? Annual Reports   
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Mark Lennon - Senior Executive Officer
Rail IndustryEnterprise Agreements and Consent Awards consumed much of Senior Executive Officer, Mark Lennon's, time in 1999. The Rail Services Australia (RSA) Enterprise Bargaining Agreement (EBA) was completed in March. The agreement was more than twelve months in the making and contained aspects that caused concern for officials and members alike. However, the final document has enabled RSA to implement a new operating system within the organisation which will assist its competitive position. A new EBA was negotiated for FreightCorp during 1999. Like RSA, FreightCorp is facing an increasingly competitive marketplace with new operators entering the market everyday. The focus from management during the negotiations was on cost reduction and a revenue neutral outcome for wage increases. Unions found many of the proposals for changes unacceptable to members. However, after some six months of negotiation members voted on the document in November with a 60% majority in favour. Other rail matters that Mark was involved in 1999 included the station management restructure in State Rail and the review of the RSA workshops. The former issue is now off the table after an acrimonious dispute. The dispute clearly showed that members in State Rail are suffering from reform fatigue. For the RSA workshops the major issue was how to face an increasing number of new players in rolling stock maintenance. It appears likely that the Workshops will be entering into a joint venture as a means of enhancing their capability and meeting the new challenges. Power IndustryIn the power industry Mark had responsibility for Award negotiations in Pacific Power, Delta Electricity and TransGrid. With Pacific Power a new twelve month Award was agreed to with a 4% increase and no trade offs. In effect the Award is an interim one, as it was thought by both sides that to enter into lengthy negotiation at a time when the organisation is in the process of being corporatised was inappropriate. TransGrid's negotiations took some two months of meetings but the outcome has seen an increase for members of 9% over two years. In addition, members will receive improved benefits including the ability to salary sacrifice for superannuation purposes. At the close of the year the Award was going to a vote of the members. At years end the Delta negotiations had reached an impasse. Despite officials agreeing to some productivity improvements in the proposed new Award management were still demanding more. Members were clearly expressing a view that there were to be no more concessions and therefore the negotiations had come to a halt. It is hoped they will be revived in the new year. Mark was involved in various reform issues in the power industry during the year. Most controversial was the attempts by Pacific Power to reform its Transitional Services Group in the middle of the year. This lead to threats of industrial action and the matter being before the Industrial Relations Commission several times. Particularly offensive to members was the decision by management to limit salary maintenance for displaced employees to twelve months. This was clearly in contravention of a long standing agreement in the electricity industry which provided for unlimited salary maintenance. All electricity entities had adopted the same policy on salary maintenance by years end. Unions have made it clear that unless the unlimited policy is restored there will be a clear impact on the ongoing reform process in the electricity industry. Public SectorMark took responsibility for the general public sector during the year. Major issues in this area included the discussions with various agencies about the implementation of child protection guidelines, the development of new policies on flexible working arrangements and the review of various Acts. The major task for Mark and unions in public sector superannuation was the oversight of the conversion offer to members of the State Superannuation Scheme (SSS). The offer was to go out to members early in the year, however, by years end it was still to occur. Mark's other responsibilities:Over the year Mark assisted affiliates with various other matters including representation in unfair dismissal matters, negotiations on payments for public holidays and submissions on a number of Award matters before the Industrial Relations Commission. In 1999 Mark was a member of the boards of;
In addition he continued to administer the Australian Trade Program At Harvard Foundation.
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