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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, Assistant Secretary
Mark Lennon, Assistant
Secretary
The electricity industry, the public sector, superannuation and Industrial Relations Commission matters dominated much of the work of Assistant Secretary, Mark Lennon in 2001. ElectricityThe electricity industry saw a number of new awards negotiated and continued discussion about reform in the industry. Mark completed negotiations for a further increase of 1.5 % for members at the new corporatised Eraring Energy that followed on from a 4% increase that they received late last year. A new consent award for Delta Electricity was negotiated with Mark coordinating the union negotiating team. The management sought to put on the table a number of trade offs in return for any wage increases. At a series of mass meetings members rejected the proposed trade offs in particular a proposal for a move from weekly to fortnightly pay. As a consequence after further negotiations the proposed trade offs were withdrawn and a new agreement was reached which contained a 9% increase for members over a two year period. A new award was also negotiated with TransGrid. The process involved extensive consultation with members about what they would like to see in new the award including a visit to each of the organisations sites. The negotiations involved a two-day lock up with a number of follow up meetings. The final outcome was an award that included a 10% wage increase over two years which was accepted by the membership at the end of 2001. Throughout the year discussions continued with representatives of the NSW Treasury about the future of the electricity industry's consulting and engineering arm, Pacific Power. The Treasury conducted an expressions of interest process, which sought proposals from the private sector to purchase the organisation. The outcome is still being evaluated. The unions remain opposed to any privatisation of the organisation as it is important for the industry and consumers in NSW that a restructured Pacific Power continue to remain in public hands. At the end of 2001 discussions with the Government were continuing. Negotiations for a new award for Pacific Power commenced in December 2001 and should conclude in the new year. As a first step management agreed to pay a 3% increase from 26th November 2001. RailIn the rail industry, Mark was a member of a State Government working party, which considered the transfer of entitlements to be paid to members employed by FreightCorp, the Government's freight rail arm, upon its sale. The formation of the working party followed the announcement by the State Government that it intended to sell FreightCorp as part of a joint sale with the National Rail Corporation. The entitlements package that was negotiated through the working party by the unions included a three year job guarantee upon sale and a payment for transfer. The proposal was endorsed by the membership in November 2001 and the sale is expected to take place early in the new year. IndustrialMark, together with other officers, assisted various affiliates throughout the year with award reviews under Section 19 of the Industrial Relations Act. On a number of occasions employers sought to vary awards beyond the scope of S 19 by seeking to define the term 'modernise' very broadly. One instance in the retail industry employers sought to use the process to vary the part time work provisions. Mark intervened in this and other matters on behalf of Labor Council to ensure that conditions of employment were protected in the process. The Union Dues Test Case was another of Mark's industrial responsibilities during the year. Three private sector and two public sector awards are part of the application and the matter is set down for hearing before a full bench of the Industrial Relations Commission in March 2002. The State government has indicated that they support the application in principle and discussions have commenced between the various public sector agencies and unions as to the wording of an appropriate clause. Mark late in the year took responsibility for negotiations with the State Government over changes to S. 106 the unfair contracts provision of the Industrial Relations Act. A draft amendment bill was released in November but did not proceed to Parliament. Negotiations over any changes are expected to take place in February 2002. Public SectorIn the public sector Mark continued to be involved in negotiations regarding reforms to the public sector arising from the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Government and unions in 2000. The primary focus of discussion was reform to the Public Sector Management Act with the Premiers Department seeking a number of changes including expanding the employment categories to include fixed term and casual employees. Unions have expressed concern with these proposals as they fear they will make employment in the public sector less secure. The discussions on the Act continue and are likely to conclude in the middle of 2002. Mark also remained chair of the Labor Council's Public Sector Superannuation Employee's Committee. In 2001 the Committee put a log of claims to the Government seeking a number of improvements to the Public Sector schemes. In principle agreement was reached on some of these claims including payment of superannuation contributions for members on maternity leave and adoption leave. Financial ServicesMark remains a Director of Chifley Financial Services and in that role assisted with changes to the ownership structure of Chifley. Equitilink the former joint venture partner of Chifley sold its share in the company to Aberdeen Funds Management who in turn sold their shares to the Local Government and Energy Superannuation Funds. At the end of 2001 Chifley had moved premises to Margaret Street, the home of the Local Government and Energy Superannuation Funds. The organisation is undertaking a restructure, which will ensure it remains a viable financial institution in the NSW marketplace. Other responsibilitiesMark continued in his role as trustee of the Trades Hall Association in 2001. It was an important year for the Trades Hall with Labor Council taking a controlling interest in the organisation in June. Work then continued on cleaning up the share register of the Association so that the Labor Council can make an offer to purchase the remaining shares in the Trades Hall as a precursor to its redevelopment. In addition to Chifley and the Trades Hall, Mark was also a board member of Asset Super, the State Transit Authority, and the ISO and joined the board of Labor Media Pty Ltd. He also represented the Labor Council on the committee of the Labor Management Studies Foundation and was the Chair of the Funeral Industry Council of NSW. The Funeral Industry Council was successful during the year in achieving in principle agreement from the State Government that an accreditation scheme be established for the Funeral Industry. Mark also continued to administer the Australian Trade Union Program at Harvard Foundation, which will be sending three officials to the six-week program at Harvard to be held early in 2002. Like all officers at the Council, Mark assisted with the Workers Compensation campaign throughout 2001. In particular, he lobbied a number of the Governments backbenchers regarding the Labor Councils concerns with the reform package. Mark also assisted with the logistics for the SKY Channel broadcast in June. In taking on the role of Assistant Secretary during the year Mark gained some additional responsibilities including joining the Council's Finance committee, becoming office manager and the organiser of business for Thursday night meetings. With the latter role Mark believes that organising a sufficient number of guest speakers will be his biggest challenge in 2002! Previous
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