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IT'S TIME. The 'not for profit' sector offers support to those most vulnerable in our community. It provides services that are central in addressing disadvantage. To ensure that our community is able to access adequate, timely & appropriate services the sector must be able to recruit & retain a skilled, dedicated and stable workforce.
ATTENTION SACS WORKERS! There have been major developments in our campaign that will have a significant impact on the wages and conditions of Victorian SACS workers, both now and into the future. The ASU has called mass meetings so as to fully update members on these developments and to provide a forum for members to endorse a future direction for the campaign. Click here to see when a meeting is on in your area!
Download a comprehensive brochure on the campaign
ASU membership form for SACS members
Download a Sample Media letter that will assist you in formulating a letter for your local MP or newspaper
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Read the ASU Submission to CSIF on portable long service leave for the SACS sector
For the Community Legal Centre's Log of Claims, click here
Read the latest SACS Newsletter dedicated to the Respect The Workers Sustain the Services Campaign and check out the action you can involve yourself in in your area
Agenda for SACS Metropolitan Delegates Meeting - click here
Check out St Luke's EBA success on You Tube! - click here
There is general agreement from all stakeholders that the ‘not for profit’ community sector is experiencing huge problems in recruiting and keeping skilled, experienced workers and that this pressure will only increase in the future.
There are many reasons for this. For example, despite the fact that demand for services provided by the sector is growing and the needs of service users and their communities are becoming increasingly complex, the pay and conditions of community sector workers have fallen increasingly behind.
The ongoing exodus of skilled workers to other sectors with better wages and conditions means that members of the community seeking assistance are increasingly unable to access the best possible support to address their needs.
Against this background, at a series of meetings around Victoria and at the 2007 ASU SACS conference union members unanimously endorsed the union running a major cross sector campaign focused on achieving increased funding – particularly in relation to the wages and conditions of workers – to address the current crisis.
Members have said they are prepared to commit to working together to improve the sector and that they believe it is imperative that the ASU - as the key union in the SACS sector – prioritises our resources to advance their industrial interests in this way.
Campaign objectives
ASU Members have set out four priority areas for the campaign:
| Better wages |
Funding specifically tied to providing wage increases to SACS workers in the community sector. |
This is an immediate way to stem the flood of SACS workers leaving for other sectors – particularly for the public sector - where they are paid significantly more for doing the same or similar work. |
| Access to Long Service Leave |
The establishment of a scheme for portability of LSL entitlements for SACS workers across the sector |
SACS workers face several barriers to achieving the length of service required with a single employer that entitles them to get their LSL - such as limited duration funding and lack of career paths and training opportunities. Portability of LSL would reward workers for loyalty to the sector overall. |
| Paid Parental Leave |
Funding specifically tied to the provision of paid parental leave for SACS workers across the sector. |
This would address the ongoing exodus of recent graduates who have identified the lack of paid maternity and co-parent leave as a factor in their decision to leave the sector. |
| Achieving safe workplaces |
Funding to investigate and implement a best practice OH&S regime across the sector. |
SACS workers across the sector report two main risk factors – stress related to the threat of/actual occupational violence and abuse and stress resulting from bullying/harassment experienced within the workplace. Benchmarking best practice processes for dealing with these issues – including training – and providing sufficient funding to roll out recommendations would remedy the current major ‘burn out’ factors.
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What is the Australian Services Union – Community Services division?
The ASU – Community Sector Division exists to provide workplace information, services and support to our members working in the ‘not for profit’ community sector. Our aim is to protect, promote and improve the working conditions and entitlements of our members. We do this by assisting you and your co workers deal with issues as they arise at your workplace – either individually or as a group - as well as by campaigning to improve the conditions for workers across the sector generally.
Our members work in agencies all over Victoria. They work in many different areas - housing and tenancy, youth, child and family services, community and mental health, advocacy, community legal centres, neighbourhood houses and community centres, ethnic communities, crisis support, women’s specific services, indigenous services, job networks, home and community care. They work for many different agencies and in many different programs. They have many different job titles.
The thing that they share is a commitment to providing services that are central in addressing disadvantage in our community by acting as a protection against the worst effects of poverty, social exclusion, violence and inequality.
Our union is resourced solely by the contributions of our members. So joining the union helps us to continue to work towards making the ‘not for profit’ sector a better place to work for you and your colleagues across the sector and in so doing to improve the services being delivered to the Victorian community.
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