Ask your local federal Member of Parliament to support multi-employer bargaining
The current system for pharmacists and technicians to negotiate improvements to their pay and working conditions is broken.
Despite the recent slight boost in wages due to staff shortages, low rates of pay,
long working hours, poor
working conditions
and skill shortages continue to
plague the
community pharmacy industry, with pay rates
in the
Pharmacy
Industry Award
remaining the lowest
of all
health professionals in Australia.
Community pharmacy is dominated by small businesses, many without enterprise agreements in place – which has left the majority of community pharmacists and technicians employed on individual contracts, reliant on the bottom of the barrel pay and conditions in the Pharmacy Industry Award.
However, the federal government has recently introduced the Secure Jobs, Better Pay Bill into parliament - the Bill proposes a number of positive changes to the Fair Work Act, including access to multi-employer bargaining.
If passed, the proposed legislation offers community pharmacists and technicians with a real opportunity to collectively bargain for pay and conditions on a multi-employer level resulting in workplace agreements that would enhance pay and conditions across the sector.
Take action
It’s time for pharmacists and technicians to stand up and tell their story.
Your local federal Member of Parliament (MP) is currently deciding whether to support the legislation to improve access to a bargaining system which is simple, fair, and accessible for all.
Send your local MP a message and ask them to meet with you to discuss how a fairer bargaining system will give pharmacists and technicians a fair go.
We will help you prepare so you are confident and can get results.
You can use the below form which will automatically generate an email to your federal MP.