Members will reflect how QAS abandoned certified agreement negotiations and called upon QIRC to determine your wages and conditions. QIRC has now decided the result. The Arbitration decision was released on July 12.

This bulletin provides some further information in addition to the brief update we sent out shortly after receipt of the decision.

Wage increase

Members need to consider the decision closely before concluding the precise pay increase applicable to them, there are a number of pay adjustments that need to be made and are not all readily apparent from a cursory read of the decision.
Over all the decision is positive in that the total cumulative wage increases are far in excess of what the State Government and the QAS were prepared to offer in negotiations, and far in excess of what they told the QIRC they could afford.
The overall increases awarded fell short of LHMU members’ log of claims and what your Union argued for in arbitration.
The overall cumulative wage increase is different for each and every wage classification over the period covered by the determination, which is from the expiry of the previous Certified Agreement to the expiry of the recent QIRC determination (October 2008 – September 2012). Most ambulance officers wage rates increase in the order of 18-20%, with 8% already received and the remainder to be paid over the next 16 months. There are mixed outcomes depending upon classification and length of service.

New classification structure and relativities
QIRC has determined a new classification structure, with the key changes being a new bench mark rate of pay for a paramedic, new improved relativities for all other classifications based upon the paramedic rate, and new additional pay points for ACP and ICP’s.
This new structure provides wage increases for most ambulance employees but requires examination to calculate exactly how much of an increase is applied as a result of the new structure. Increases range from 1% to 2.6% depending on classification.
These increases are in addition and are paid prior to the across the board future 7% wage increase determined by the QIRC.
In addition to the new classification structure increases and the across the board increase, ACP’s and ICP’s are entitled to access a higher pay point based upon years of service.
The new ACP pay point 3 provides an additional 2.5% increase to eligible employees. The new ICP pay point 3 provides an additional 3.5% increase to eligible employees. These increases are in addition to the re-classification increase and the across the board increase. Note also that the entire cumulative wage increases compound.
Educators are all to be classified at a level above their substantive rate. Isolated Practice Paramedics are to receive an additional 2.5% all purpose allowance.

Duration of QIRC determination
The QIRC duration encompasses a 4 year period from the expiry of the certified agreement up until September 2012.
QAS were unsuccessful in their arguments for a longer duration. Given that the arbitration exercise took almost 2 years to complete, the QIRC decision does not bind us as long as we normally expect a Certified Agreement to.
LHMU are pleased with this aspect of the ruling as we argued for a shorter duration.
In effect the LHMU and QAS should anticipate commencing negotiations about future wages and conditions around March 2012.

QAS claims
Members will be aware that QAS sought tradeoffs, cost offsets and other changes to members’ working conditions during enterprise bargaining negotiations. Members rejected those concessions and QAS pursued them in arbitration plus a few more. For example, QAS sought to win reduced roster notification time, widening and subsequent abolition of meal windows, the right to direct employees to relieve within 45km of their residence or home station and the right to demand a medical certificate for each and every employee absence .
The QAS were not successful in achieving these changes to members’ working conditions.
LHMU were successful in our vigorous opposition to widening or abolishing meal windows. In fact, we won the argument that abolition of meal windows was never discussed by the parties and therefore could not be ruled on. We had a similar result with deployment from home station.

Sick leave

As part of members’ negotiating log of claims the LHMU sought to increase the total hours of sick leave available to all ambulance employees. As part of the QIRC decision all employees will receive an increase to sick leave as of 1st July 2010, increasing from 80 hours per year to 96 hours per year.
Increased pro-rata entitlements start immediately and members will be credited with 96 hours on their employment anniversary instead of 80 hours.

FAQ’s
This update addresses the main few FAQ’s we have had from members and we will be compiling comprehensive information in the future.