AEU representatives at Bendigo Kangan Institute are working to resolve significant problems caused by the actions of BKI management in regard to provisions in the TAFE agreement.
The AEU has written to acting BKI CEO, Phill Murphy, setting out our concerns that BKI and its officers may have committed serious contraventions of the Fair Work Act as a consequence of the failure of the institute to implement the workplans provisions of the Victorian TAFE Teaching Staff Agreement 2018.
The union has also sought to directly access members’ workplans that are held by BKI, through the right of entry provisions of the Fair Work Act which enables union officials to attend workplaces to obtain relevant documents from the employer. If BKI management does not cooperate, the the AEU will seek to take enforcement action in a federal court.
Members have raised concerns that BKI has not acted quickly enough to convene workload dispute panels as required by the agreement. Where those panels have been established and the dispute has not been resolved, the AEU is supporting members to take the matter(s) to the Fair Work Commission if we consider that the agreement is being breached.
The union considers that there are potential breaches of the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHS Act) on the basis that current practices about the allocation of work for some members constitute an unsafe system of work and which could result in instances of psychological injury.
We have written to the acting CEO requesting evidence that BKI is meeting their obligations under the OHS Act. We will keep members informed on progress on resolving the workplan dispute.
