DIARY OF A GRANDFATHER

Interview by Union with John Condliffe Union Delegate at a large private Radiology Practise in a large Melbourne Public Hospital

 

Quotes

“If they win, this (will be) how they treat workers across the industry…with such brutality and callous disregard for workers…it will be catastrophic for our profession.”.

 

“The people they have locked-out are the people that have done the most for this company, some of the most dedicated and committed to their work and the workplace…They aren’t the average, they’re above average… They ....are crucifying their best and most loyal staff.”.

"A loyal committed work force taken care of by the company would be good not only for them but also for the company."

 John Condliffe has had been able to bring almost 40 years of work experience in to his work at ........ but for the first time in his working life, John doesn’t know what he will be doing next week or whether he will be invited back to work at all as John is one of the six ....... employees who have been locked-out this week.

 

Becoming a delegate was a way to help negotiate better pay and conditions for himself and his co-workers. His role as a delegate evolved into one he considers his most important role at ..... as helping to ensure the well-being and welfare of the staff also helped to ensure the health and well being of the organisation.

 

More and more ...... employees have joined the VHPA with John keeping members up to date through a newsletter and email updates. As negotiations broke down, VHPA membership avalanched with the density reaching unprecedented levels or close to it in many sites.

 

With bargaining achieving little, .... members voted to take protected action and members at the ..... Hospital site stopped work for a barbecue Wednesday and on Tuesday members stopped work at ....Private Hospital. Although ....claims it can’t afford decent pay rises for members, it has spared no expense on battling it’s own Health Professionals. In response to the stoppages, .... management locked-out four members at the ....Public Hospital and two at .....Private Hospital.

 

The action sets a horrifying precedent for EA negotiations in the sector which is why, even after being singled out by this cruel action, John is still determined to persist and has encouraged us (VHPA, and members)to continue in our efforts. In a letter to his colleagues, John implored “we are depending on you to hold the line for us to not give in”.

All the more reason we all need to get behind John and our .... members. We have set up a .... fund with all proceeds going to help .... members and help with legal costs involved. You can donate to the fund and buy tickets to our ..... Comedy night through the Trybooking site. If you just want to donate, continue through the site and chose the ‘donate’ option underneath the ticket option. You can share our PDF invitation or our Facebook invitation here. Messages of support can help to bolster .... members- send them through the info@vhpa.asn.au, comment on our website, or leave a supportive comment on our Facebook page.

 

  John Condliffe Union Delegate-Interview

 

John Condliffe has had been able to bring almost 40 years of work experience in to his work at ....... As a young man, John worked as a sheet-metal worker; he has worked as a medic, a nurse, and radiographer in the army; he ran his own radiography practise; and has worked as a locum across Australia. For the first time in his working life, John doesn’t know what he will be doing next week or whether he will be invited back to work at all as John is one of the six .....employees who have been locked-out this week.

 

John is a compassionate and empathetic man- many of his co-workers are the same age as his own children and the well being and welfare of his colleagues has been a great priority for him in his role as delegate at ... He has a great respect and admiration for these colleagues who are some of the most passionate, dedicated, and hardworking people in the industry and for John, the sense of team work and camaraderie is one of the greatest aspects of working at ....

 

It’s this compassion and care for his fellow professionals that inspired him to become a delegate. Soon after beginning at ...., he became aware that conditions and pay at other organisations surpassed those at .... Becoming a delegate was a way to help negotiate better pay and conditions for himself and his co-workers. His role as a delegate evolved into one he considers his most important role at ... as helping to ensure the well-being and welfare of the staff also helped to ensure the health and well being of the organisation.

Negotiations with ... began in late 2012 and achieved little in the face of management’s unyielding approach. He sees a stark contrast from when Medical Imaging practises were small organisations often owned and operated by imaging professionals to the situation now when large corporations own many medical imaging businesses.

 

“If there was a problem, you used to be able to go directly to the owner and negotiate. Even when I was a sheet metal worker in the ‘60s, they were tough but they would negotiate… the higher managers (at ...) have no concept of what we do. They’re remote.”

 

John and his fellow delegates have worked hard to communicate with ... management, to let them know that they deserve better pay and better conditions but to John it seemed they just weren’t listening.

 

On the contrary, the staff at ... were listening and as bargaining became more difficult, more members joined the VHPA with John keeping members up to date through a newsletter and email updates. As negotiations broke down, VHPA membership avalanched with the density reaching unprecedented levels or close to it in many sites.

 

With bargaining achieving little, ... members voted to take protected action and members at the .... Hospital site stopped work for a barbecue Wednesday and on Tuesday members stopped work at ....Private Hospital.

Although ... claims it can’t afford decent pay rises for members, it has spared no expense on battling it’s own Health Professionals. In response to the stoppages, .... management locked-out four members at the .... and two at .... The lock out means that those members can’t work at ... and won’t receive pay while the lockout is in place- it’s uncertain how long it will last leaving locked-out members in limbo.

 

As one of the six members locked out, John has thought greatly about his colleagues- the hardest thing about the lockout for John is that he isn’t able to help support his them during this difficult time. John, knowing that ... would not hold back, had anticipated he may be targeted by any management response but he feels dearly for the staff members who were seemingly chosen at random- some of the best and brightest workers at ....

 

With ... struggling to recruit staff and a high staff turnover, he is at a loss to understand why management would lock-out some of it’s best staff as well as further blacken it’s reputation for professionals across the sector (with the pay and conditions already a great disincentive to working at ...).

 

The action sets a horrifying precedent for EA negotiations in the sector which is why, even after being singled out by this cruel action, John is still determined to continue. John has encouraged us to continue in our efforts for better conditions and pay. In a letter to his colleagues, John has implored “we are depending on you to hold the line for us to not give in”.

All the more reason we all need to get behind John and our ... members. We have set up a ... fund with all proceeds going to help ... members and help with legal costs involved. You can donate to the fund and buy tickets to our ... Comedy night through the Trybooking site. If you just want to donate, continue through the site and chose the ‘donate’ option underneath the ticket option. You can share our PDF invitation or our Facebook invitation here. Messages of support can help to bolster ... members- send them through the info@vhpa.asn.au, comment on our website, or leave a supportive comment on our Facebook page.

Interview Conducted by Libby Henstock   VHPA 13.3.14

 

 

Note: When I started as a delegate after some discussion with my colleagues so long ago I was so naive. I thought we could do something really positive for the staff and for the company we could make it a better place, we could show the company cared and we could all share in the enterprise and benefit by a good agreement. As the months went by and the delay and frustrations mounted with only one side really negotiating I started to realize that my earlier expectations were way off the mark. In the end it was a grim arduous slog only made easier by the calibre of the people I work with and the desire for an outcome.
Would I do it again? Absolutely Will I ever be as naïve? No way. Do I hold any grudges? No. Has it changed me? Yes I have been marked by this experience.

John Condliffe  is a delegate in a large private radiology practise in a large metropolitan public hospital.
18.3.14