TPAV Journal - The Police Association Victoria

SECRETARY’S MESSAGE
Excellent wins for members
well worth the fight
The following is an edited extract of the Secretary’s report
to The Police Association Annual General Meeting held
on 14 September 2012.
We are pleased to report
that the past 12 months
has been a very satisfying
year of achievement for
The Police Association.
we have achieved an enterprise bargaining
outcome that has won unprecedented
support from our membership.
we are in better financial shape than at any
time in our history and we will use that base
to improve our services to members.
Our constant lobbying of the current and
past governments with regard to police
numbers is finally coming to fruition with a
net additional 1700 Police Officers and 940
Protective Services Officers to be appointed
in the current term of government.
I am also pleased to report that we have a
Chief Commissioner and government with
whom we can work effectively, not just for
the overall benefit of our members, but also
the Victorian community.
I am very proud of everyone who was
involved in the effort to achieve the Eb 2011
result, but I am particularly pleased that our
members were prepared to stick together in
an industrial action strategy that took place
over a five month period between may and
October, last year.
we, of course, cannot rest on our laurels
and, as is always the case, at the time
of sign-off of an enterprise bargaining
agreement, work has already commenced
in preparation for the next enterprise
bargaining negotiations which will take place
in the lead up to the expiry of the current
agreement on 1 December, 2015.
Also on the industrial relations front,
we are pleased to report that close to a
million dollars in unpaid salaries, penalties
and allowances have been recovered
by The Police Association on behalf of
hundreds of members since December
last year after being short-changed by
inadequacies in Victoria Police’s new
payroll system, HR Assist.
This massive recovery of unpaid
entitlements has meant that some
individual members have received
thousands of dollars in monies owed,
with one member receiving a lump sum
payment of over $7,000 in salary pay back.
The flaws in the beleaguered IT system
have also been responsible for selling
short various leave entitlements of
some members such as long service
leave and ATOs.
Another significant success for The Police
Association in the past year has been
the numbers of additional police that are
starting to appear on the front line in police
stations throughout the state.
The work that The Police Association did
leading up to the November 2010 state
election, in speaking to all political parties
to secure additional police numbers, has
resulted in the current coalition government
strictly adhering to its pre-election
undertaking to employ a net additional 1700
police in its current term. This undertaking
has resulted in new Police Officers finally
reaching larger metropolitan and country
police stations and are flowing on to the
growth corridors of melbourne and our
bigger provincial cities.
we are also pleased to welcome our new
Protective Services Officer members, many
of whom will continue their traditional work
involving security in and around public
buildings. we are pleased that PSOs are
well trained when it comes to their duties
GrEG DaVIES > SECRETARY
and those critics who say otherwise are
simply wrong. The Police Association will do
all it can to ensure that our PSO members,
whether they be deployed on railways
stations or otherwise, remain an important
part of our membership.
Another successful outcome for The Police
Association has been the welcome
announcement during the past 12 months
that tasers will soon be rolled out to our
operational members.
This announcement is the culmination of
over a decade of solid campaigning by the
Association on this important issue.
The successful trial of tasers involving
our members at bendigo and morwell over
an 18 month period proved all the critics
wrong in that our members can, of course,
be trusted to operate these devices
responsibly and safely.
A further initiative of The Police Association
has been the introduction of the integrated
operational equipment vest. The IOEV has
a load carrying capacity that we hope will
alleviate the many injuries suffered by
our members as a result of wearing their
equipment on a belt. whilst there have
been issues with regard to the fit of the
vest, it is expected that these issues will be
resolved over time.
finally, I wish to acknowledge the support
of the Executive, the delegates, assistant
delegates and the Administration of
The Police Association, our Assistant
Secretary, bruce mcKenzie, our managers
and all staff members in their efforts and
support for our members."
The Police Association Victoria Journal October 2012
05