…the gossip

Finsec members at AMI have voted in high numbers to settle their Collective Agreement.

Negotiations yielded a two year offer of 4% in the first year and 3.75% in the second year. With inflation running at 2.5% this represents another settlement that genuinely boosts the real wages of AMI staff.

By working together as Finsec members AMI staff also won some of the best annual leave provisions in the financial sector, with 22 days AL on commencement, rising to 27 days after six years of service.

Finsec members have identified significant ongoing issues around staffing and workload, and building membership and bargaining power to win on these issues will be the key focus over the next two years.

Finsec members at AMI are meeting next week to discuss their and AMI’s claims for employment negotiations.

At meetings earlier in the year Finsec members identified four key issues that they wanted resolved at this year’s negotiations; staffing and workloads, pay, medical insurance and eye wear.

Finsec members will be seeking a 5% pay rise for a one year term, an increase the company medical scheme subsidy to $500 per annum effective after two years, and that AMI meets the costs of prescription eye-wear.

Finsec members have also raised for discussion with AMI issues around workloads and staffing. Workloads have increased with a number of staff working unpaid overtime to accommodate the business requirements, and also an inability to take annual leave. They would like to know what steps AMI have put in place to address the increase in annual leave as well as the growth in business (i.e. employing extra staff, relief staff to cover to all leave absences, etc).

Meanwhile AMI has now given its claims to Finsec. These include a salary offer of 4% for 2007 and 3.75% for 2008 subject to agreement to a two year term. It will also be seeking to remove 6 job roles from collective coverage: Call Centre Team Leader, Call Centre Team Leader Support, Accounting Services Officer, Information Support Help Desk, Computer Operations and Administration, Call Centre Training and Development Officer.

Negotiations are scheduled for 1-2 May.

(thanks to vapours for the photo)