The ABC this week responded to CPSU Secretary Graeme Thomson’s letter to Managing Director Russell Balding about the Radio National strike.

The response came not from the MD, but from the Head of Workplace Relations Don Smith.

The ABC took a hard line, reiterating its position regarding the Radio National restructure and supporting its Program Manager. It did not accept many of the assertions put in motions passed at the strike meeting and urged the union to “ recommend to your members to cease any further action and return to the consultative process.”

A meeting to discuss the ABC’s response will take place on Monday at 12.15 pm.

radioinfo can reveal the contents of that letter in full. It says:

The issues raised in your letter, including a number of misconceptions, have been discussed. Firstly, the Radio National budget has not been overspent, and there is not a financial crisis in Radio National. The Radio Division has considered its competing priorities and has set its budgets accordingly. Radio National, in common with all areas of the ABC, is addressing a range of options and taking appropriate action to operate within the budget it has been allocated. We do not accept your assertion that there has been mismanagement within Radio National.

The ABC is following due process in consulting over the impact on employees of current changes to programs, and this is being handled at an appropriate level. You are well aware that it is important that employees and their representatives engage with management in this process and do not get locked into intractable positions. The ABC rejects your assertion that Radio National and specific employees within Radio National are being targeted. I presume that you were misquoted in the press report in today’s Age that three people in Radio National’s specialist program making unit had been made redundant recently. You and I both know that that is wrong. We also reject your claim in the same report that management are trying to break down specialist program making capacity.

The process proposed by the ABC where there are more employees within a class of employees than are required is not novel and has been followed elsewhere in the ABC with union acceptance. In short the process is to develop a set of criteria from which to select those employees that best meet the ABC’s requirements from within a class of employees. We have sought to engage with you on this process to discuss the scope of the class of employee and the criteria. Your response to date has been to reject this out of hand without genuine consultation and to take unlawful industrial action.

We again ask that the process of consultation continue in accordance with the employment agreement, with which you are obligated to comply. I reiterate that management are open to suggestions. However, we do not support the proposal to call for expressions of interest for voluntary redundancy from all Radio National employees. As has been explained to you at meetings on these issues, we do not accept that this approach will meet the needs of the ABC to retain the employees that best meet the program needs of Radio National.

I turn now to the motions passed by Radio National members of the CPSU. I do not intend to address the range of unsubstantiated assertions in motion one individually in this letter; they appear to be designed to undermine the Program Manager Radio National and to circumvent the proper management of the station. However, I will remind you that there has been considerable correspondence over the issue of consultation on editorial/programming decisions and the ABC’s position is well known to you. We intend to provide opportunities to consult over the impact of these decisions on employees, including in this instance the proposed concept of pooling of program makers, as appropriate. We do not accept that there has been wilful disregard of EP’s and Content Editors in determining program staffing and editorial direction.

Motion two may well express the view of employees based on the information conveyed to them at meetings of members to date. However, as you well know, consultation does not require co-determination. I strongly suggest you engage in consultation rather than simply reject the ABC’s proposed approach. I reiterate, the changes proposed are not simply budget driven; they arise from a change in program requirements that provide an opportunity to address resource allocation priorities.

Finally with respect to motion three, the Managing Director has indicated that he wishes the consultative process already underway to continue. Director Radio has indicated her preparedness to meet with employees from The Listening Room to discuss a number of the issues raised. However, she is not involved in the industrial consultative process – that will continue to be managed by Program Manager Radio National and Workplace Relations Manager.

The industrial action taken by Radio National members is regrettable and misdirected as well as being unlawful. The ABC is not swayed by industrial action or the threat of further action. You are urged to recommend to your members to cease any further action and return to the consultative process. You have an opportunity to influence the decision making process before implementation. If you are in dispute over the ABC’s proposal you are required to follow the dispute settling process in Clause 63 of the ABC Employment Agreement 2003-2006.

Yours sincerely

Don Smith
Head, Workplace Relations