PROVIDING WORKPLACE SUPPORT AND ADVOCACY FOR OUR MEMBERS BY REBECCA GIRARD

ABOVE FROM LEFT: SENIOR INDUSTRIAL OFFICER MICHELLE ROBERSTON, INDUSTRIAL OFFICER JESSICA WIGGAN, INDUSTRIAL COORDINATOR REBECCA GIRARD, INDUSTRIAL OFFICER SAMARAH WILSON AND LEAD INDUSTRIAL OFFICER DREW CUTLER WORK EACH AND EVERY DAY TO PROVIDE WORKPLACE SUPPORT FOR OUR MEMBERS.

AT THE SERVICES UNION, SUPPORTING AND ADVOCATING FOR OUR MEMBERS IS AT THE HEART OF WHAT WE DO AND SERVICE DELIVERY IS OUR CORE BUSINESS.

Over the past few years, our Union has introduced a number of changes to meet the needs of our members and in return we have seen an increase in positive outcomes for not just them, but also in the development of our Industrial Staff.

We are capturing detailed information about the industrial operations of Services Connect now more than ever. This is allowing us to develop and review existing systems to ensure we are continually improving and responding to the increasing demand for our industrial services.

In 2020, we opened 3378 member cases. This is our largest number of cases opened in a 12 month period. The majority of cases that were opened came from the Social and Community Services (SACS) Industry where we opened 1888 individual member cases. The next closest industry was Local Government with 940 cases followed by the Energy Industry with 278 cases Finally, our Industrial Team opened 272 individual member cases for in the Transport and North Administrative Industries. Whilst we did see an increase in enquiries to Services Connect during 2020 as a result of the COVID 19 pandemic, our biggest industrial enquiry still related to disciplinary matters. The top 5 industrial issues for 2020 were:

• DISCIPLINARY MATTERS – 505 • GRIEVANCES – 351 • HARASSMENT AND BULLYING – 112 • FLEXIBLE WORK ARRANGEMENTS – 104 • COVID -19 INQUIRIES - 102

This is fairly consistent with the trends we have seen in previous years where our three biggest issues outside of disciplinary matters have been bullying and harassment, consultation and change and flexible work arrangements. We’ve been able to achieve some really great outcomes for our members in response to a greater need for flexibility in the workplace and we have resource kits available for members to assist with their requests.

We are often asked by our members and Workplace Delegates, what regions bring in the most number of member cases to our Industrial Service Team. In 2020, the greatest volume of cases came from South East Queensland (SEQ) with 2072 cases opened. As you can see by the graph below this number far outweighed other regions. It is worth mentioning that nearly 70% of all cases are located in SEQ compared to nearly 60% of all membership.

With these trends in mind, in 2019 our Union introduced a new ‘Intake System.’This is where one of our Member Benefits Officers sets up an appointment for a member with one of our Industrial Officers. This process has proven to be extremely successful and both members and our staff agree that it provides greater certainty on call back times and allows members to prepare in advance.

In our first year of implementing this particular system we set up 1567 intake appointments. We saw a sharp increase last year where we processed 2445 appointments over a 12 month period; this is an increase of 64% from year to year. As part of our 30th Way Campaign - Mental Health and Wellbeing in the Workplace, our Union has also recognised the need for our staff to be considerate of our members’ mental health. With this in mind, we have rolled out mental health first aid training to all staff who offer frontline service to our members.

We further recognise the importance for members to be mentally well when dealing with workplace issues and we have developed a resource tool that connects members with a mental health provider. Our role as Industrial Officers is not to provide a counselling service, it is however, imperative that we support our members where they are finding things difficult. In some instances we will now directly transfer a member to a particular mental health service provider to ensure they get the help they need before tackling their workplace issue. This is working well both for our Industrial Officers and members who feel supported and understood when they are contacting us in distress.

We are really proud within our Union’s Industrial Team about the improvements we have made to our member service and of particular note are the improvements we have made in relation to case resolution. This is just a small sample of some of the feedback our Union’s Industrial Team has received in the last 12 months. It’s a real testament to the work that we have undertaken and the commitment from our Union to ensure we are delivering a quality service to our members.

“I can’t personally thank you and The Services Union enough for the assistance and support that you have been throughout this entire process. So professional and timely. I have been singing your praises and the Union’s to anyone here who will listen.”

“I would like to thank the ASU and yourself for your help during the past month. The process of using the Fair Work Commission with the ASU was effortless, and I knew we were prepared when the phone rang for our conciliation. Your organisation has been very good to me and I’d like to thank you!”

“I made a good choice in having you as my representative and that you are excellent at your job and extremely knowledgeable. Thought I would let you know. Thank you I really appreciate what you are doing for me.”