DATE 30/10/08

WORK PRACTICES PROJECT

CANZ Officials, Prison Services Representatives, and PSA representatives met this week to initiate the Work Practices Project. This project came out of the last CEA and is intended to examine alternative working arrangements, including shift patterns. The objective of the project is to identify enhancements to staff working arrangements, productivity and/or service delivery gains.

The national project team is Brendan Anstiss, Jack Harrison, Ants Howie, Vicki Muir, Tony Howe, Sam King, Jo Stephenson, Chris Wells, Beven Hanlon, Ken Johnson and Graham Cuffley.

Work Practices is an operational project that will be trialed in early 2009, with a review and evaluation of the project completed by June 2009. The results and anticipated benefits from the project will ultimately feed into the collective agreement when it is next negotiated towards the end of 2009.

The trial will occur at Otago Corrections Facility. Jack Harrison, the OCF Prison Manager, is very supportive of the project, and staff at the facility have previously identified some alternative ways of operating, including rostering practices.

The next step for the Project Team is to talk to staff at OCF and to establish a local operations team who can lead the planning and implementation of options at the site. This will start to occur over the next four weeks

CANZ National President Beven Hanlon, and National Organizer Ken Johnson will attend meetings with CANZ Delegates at OCF during November to discuss the election of local representation for the local operations team, and what is required to initiate the trial.

CANZ initiated the Work Practices Project at last years CEA negotiations, and the membership endorsed it at ratification meetings. CANZ supports the Work Practices Project, will be actively involved in the Project, and is keen to assess the potential benefits for all Union Members before entering the next round of negotiations.

Following this weeks meeting to launch the Project, Beven Hanlon stated that the impacts of the Global recession, and the expected downturn in the NZ economy were a an opportune time to think creatively and to seek improvements to terms and conditions for Union members by giving consideration to alternative ways of working.

Regular UPDATES reporting on progress of the Work Practices Project will follow.

ON BEHALF OF THE CANZ NATIONAL OFFICERS