On Monday this week Queensland Branch Council met and unanimously approved a trial operational merger - NOT a union merger - between the Queensland organising teams of the Alliance and the Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers of Australia (APESMA). A message to members today from the Alliance federal office - sent without consulting the Queensland Branch Council - may have given the impression that the Alliance and APESMA are on the brink of merging.
Not so, although both unions are looking, tentatively, at a possible merger.
As was explained last year when the possibility of a merger with the CPSU was mooted, the Alliance faces a financial crisis within a couple of years unless something is done. This approaching crisis has been brought about by technological changes which have badly affected our media and equity membership levels, along with the global financial downturn, which affected just about everything. Our finances are healthy at the moment but cannot stay that way unless we make substantial changes.
The Alliance is examining many different options. Nothing has been decided about any merger, and nothing will be decided without approval by members. If any merger is formally proposed, members will be asked to vote in a referendum, and members will decide. And well before that happens, if it does, members will be consulted, their opinions sought and their opinions listened to.
However the trial operational merger in Queensland is worth exploring regardless of what we might decide to do down the track. If it works then it will provide immediate tangible benefits to members from cost savings and a boost in organising power.
I believe it will work, and that members will notice very little difference when they contact the Alliance office. But our organising ability, and APESMA's, will show a significant improvement.
Stand by for a more comprehensive explanation in the next few days. This brief Queensland Branch bulletin is being posted solely because of the possibility of misunderstanding arising from today's Federal office message.
Terry O'Connor
MEAA Queensland Secretary
Friday, July 8, 2011
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
The merger's off - at this stage
After extensive talks, the Federal Executive of the Alliance has concluded that there is not sufficient consensus within the Federal Executive to continue discussions for a merger with the Community and Public Sector Union at this stage. The Alliance will continue to explore all our options to ensure we sustain a strong union, to build power at work and to represent our members and industry.
That's the formal message to members, which doesn't say a lot, on the surface.
So what's next?
Up to you, in a way. We Alliance officials are still looking at ways to strengthen our industrial and professional efforts, and if you have suggestions, please send them in.
The debate at Federal Executive was spirited, and several options are still open. If you think there is something else we can do to ensure the Alliance remains effective, please tell us. Don't hold back.
Terry O'Connor, Queensland Secretary
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Amalgamation debate info – stand by
Were you one of those cynics who assumed that the MEAA debate about a possible amalgamation with the CPSU was simply for show – that the amalgamation was a done deal and the debate was a sham, constructed to try to demonstrate democracy in action?
If so you've just been proved wrong.
The Alliance Federal Executive met in Sydney yesterday and today (Tuesday, March 8) to consider several important issues including the possible amalgamation and the debate was robust, to say the least. Very robust, at times.
I'll leave details of what happened, what motions were carried etc, until the information is formally released. But you can be assured there wasn't a rubber stamp in the room.
Stand by . . .
Terry O'Connor, Queensland Secretary
If so you've just been proved wrong.
The Alliance Federal Executive met in Sydney yesterday and today (Tuesday, March 8) to consider several important issues including the possible amalgamation and the debate was robust, to say the least. Very robust, at times.
I'll leave details of what happened, what motions were carried etc, until the information is formally released. But you can be assured there wasn't a rubber stamp in the room.
Stand by . . .
Terry O'Connor, Queensland Secretary
Friday, November 19, 2010
New and improved?
Alliance Queensland President Carol Burns writes:
I was part of the last amalgamation that Equity went through when we combined with the AJA. We members of Equity were all very nervous about the possible loss of identity. We thought the increased resources promised by sharing day-to-day running costs might not be channelled to “our” needs.
Would those pesky journalists get all the service because they were a bigger and stronger section?
Would amalgamation give us more personnel in the office to assist our enquiries about industrial or professional problems?
Our new union then is now our old union, the MEAA, that has served us well. And I still feel like a member of Equity.
I won’t list how many agreements our industrial officers have negotiated and how many battles have been fought but the membership has been guided through the vicissitudes of life by a great team of paid staff. I know we would be in a sorry state without the union and that the office could always do with more staff.
Now we are talking about another amalgamation with another bigger union to form a new entity. I’m sure you’ve seen the information that’s come out through e-bulletins and from Terry O’Connor, our Branch Secretary.
We need to consider all those questions from 1991 again and bring all our worries, founded or unfounded, to the surface so we can make this next amalgamation successfully. If it goes ahead, the aim is to survive with strength into a demanding future with resources to support the needs of the membership.
Presently the strongest contender to join with to form the new union is the CPSU but there are others that could have been, should have been and have been talked with.
Head office have had a team of four talking with prospective partners and Terry and I are part of a Future Strategies committee they report to and discuss with. We need to understand from you whether discussions are going in the correct way.
Read the previous entry in this blog, and the responses to it. Post your responses here or give your questions or opinions to the Alliance Queensland office for Branch Council to talk about on 2nd December and then to take to Federal Council on the 8th and 9th December.
Then talk about it some more when you’re out and about into the New Year.
Get involved.
We’ll make our best decision as a union if we know what we want. Of course you can leave it up to someone else - but how lame is that!
- Carol Burns Equity membership number 4027106.
- Currently serving as Queensland Branch Council President
I was part of the last amalgamation that Equity went through when we combined with the AJA. We members of Equity were all very nervous about the possible loss of identity. We thought the increased resources promised by sharing day-to-day running costs might not be channelled to “our” needs.
Would those pesky journalists get all the service because they were a bigger and stronger section?
Would amalgamation give us more personnel in the office to assist our enquiries about industrial or professional problems?
Our new union then is now our old union, the MEAA, that has served us well. And I still feel like a member of Equity.
I won’t list how many agreements our industrial officers have negotiated and how many battles have been fought but the membership has been guided through the vicissitudes of life by a great team of paid staff. I know we would be in a sorry state without the union and that the office could always do with more staff.
Now we are talking about another amalgamation with another bigger union to form a new entity. I’m sure you’ve seen the information that’s come out through e-bulletins and from Terry O’Connor, our Branch Secretary.
We need to consider all those questions from 1991 again and bring all our worries, founded or unfounded, to the surface so we can make this next amalgamation successfully. If it goes ahead, the aim is to survive with strength into a demanding future with resources to support the needs of the membership.
Presently the strongest contender to join with to form the new union is the CPSU but there are others that could have been, should have been and have been talked with.
Head office have had a team of four talking with prospective partners and Terry and I are part of a Future Strategies committee they report to and discuss with. We need to understand from you whether discussions are going in the correct way.
Read the previous entry in this blog, and the responses to it. Post your responses here or give your questions or opinions to the Alliance Queensland office for Branch Council to talk about on 2nd December and then to take to Federal Council on the 8th and 9th December.
Then talk about it some more when you’re out and about into the New Year.
Get involved.
We’ll make our best decision as a union if we know what we want. Of course you can leave it up to someone else - but how lame is that!
- Carol Burns Equity membership number 4027106.
- Currently serving as Queensland Branch Council President
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Your place to show your feelings
Greetings.
The reaction to my email message last night was such that I have decided to start this blog, to let people have their say, either anonymously or publicly - their choice.
Several comments suggested that the decision about merging with the CPSU (Who's that? See below.) is a done deal and that the Alliance simply wants members to rubber-stamp it. Not a chance. For a start there are many views about this possible merger among Alliance officials, both honorary and full-time. Then there are possible road-blocks such as both unions not being able to agree on a suitable partnership arrangement.
However it is certainly true that members have not been kept informed as fully as they should, and for that I apologise: I should have informed Queensland members much sooner about the tentative steps that Federal Council has taken.
Below you will find some comments from members, sent to me and then posted here with their permission. If you would like to lodge a comment, please either use the Comment box at the bottom of this page, or email me at Alliance.Qld@gmail.com and - as long as the comment meets normal publication criteria regarding defamation, contempt and so on - it will be published. Censorship is not an option here.
One more thing: the CPSU. You will find the website of the Community and Public Sector Union at http://www.cpsu.org.au/. Have a browse. If you then have specific questions, send 'em in and I will attempt to get them answered for you.
Cheers, Terry O'Connor, Alliance Queensland Secretary
There were a few more comments lodged, but not every respondent wanted their comment made public, let alone have their name used. But don't hold back. The Alliance NEEDS a vigorous debate and this is a chance to start. – Terry
The reaction to my email message last night was such that I have decided to start this blog, to let people have their say, either anonymously or publicly - their choice.
Several comments suggested that the decision about merging with the CPSU (Who's that? See below.) is a done deal and that the Alliance simply wants members to rubber-stamp it. Not a chance. For a start there are many views about this possible merger among Alliance officials, both honorary and full-time. Then there are possible road-blocks such as both unions not being able to agree on a suitable partnership arrangement.
However it is certainly true that members have not been kept informed as fully as they should, and for that I apologise: I should have informed Queensland members much sooner about the tentative steps that Federal Council has taken.
Below you will find some comments from members, sent to me and then posted here with their permission. If you would like to lodge a comment, please either use the Comment box at the bottom of this page, or email me at Alliance.Qld@gmail.com and - as long as the comment meets normal publication criteria regarding defamation, contempt and so on - it will be published. Censorship is not an option here.
One more thing: the CPSU. You will find the website of the Community and Public Sector Union at http://www.cpsu.org.au/. Have a browse. If you then have specific questions, send 'em in and I will attempt to get them answered for you.
Cheers, Terry O'Connor, Alliance Queensland Secretary
I've been a member of the CPSU in the past and they were useless - only interested in members in the likes of CentreLink/Social Security and the Tax Office where they had big membership numbers and could use that "muscle" and the fact that one of those departments was/is a big revenue raiser, to get a result.
You are not going to save anything. You'll be a part of another organisation, so arguably the savings won't be yours anyway!
And
You'd probably best amalgamate before a rampaging Packer or a crabby Murdoch buy you out and sack those of us who remain. I know we journos love our "independence", but to survive we just might have to amalgamate
I guess so many of us have seen the Packers and Murdochs and their ilk gobble up everything in front of them
at a price that is often argued as being to the detriment of journalistic independence and our right to speak openly and freely (and we are a "developed" country!?)
So I reckon there perhaps will be a feeling abroad of going through all of that again ... again
Thanks for taking the time to respond.
All the best with your discussions, hopefully wise heads will prevail.
Cheers, Bob Riley
My concern with a merger with Community and Public Sector Union is that it puts journalists in the same union as all the bureaucrats and spin doctors who obfuscate and try to manipulate us.
Regards, Amelia
I was on the AJA Executive when we became MEAA. I do a lot of work for trade unions and I'm a strong believer that size matters when it comes to industrial strength. It's up to members to be active and ensure their voice is heard within the bigger Union. You've got my support for the merger.
Cheers, Anne Jones
ToadShow Pty Ltd
I don’t wish to merge with the CPSU. I will look for another union if we do.
Cheers, Bernie Dowling
There were a few more comments lodged, but not every respondent wanted their comment made public, let alone have their name used. But don't hold back. The Alliance NEEDS a vigorous debate and this is a chance to start. – Terry
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