Bans to enforce the Status Quo, as per Clause 23.2 of the Enterprise Agreement have now been re-imposed by the General Secretary as per the resolution passed by members on Tuesday 11 November.

This means that PSA members will not

1.Cooperate in any way with the Government's proposed transfer of jobs and functions from Health Units and Hospitals to Shared Services SA.
2.This includes not physically moving from their current work sites to Shared Services SA from Monday 24 November 2008.

The Enterprise Agreement states that “during any dispute, the Status Quo existing immediately prior to the matter giving rise to the dispute will remain. Work will continue as it was prior to the matter giving rise to the dispute.”

The PSA has been raising issues with the Government about the effect that the introduction of Shared Services will have upon its members for over 18 months. Originally the PSA was advised that there would be a separate Shared Services within the health portfolio. Planning and in fact some implementation of internal Health Shared Services was already underway.

The Government has been made aware of the many issues that would arise from transferring hospital based positions under the Health Act to city based work sites under the PSM Act.

The responses to the range of concerns raised has been inadequate.

PSA members in good faith,and as recommended by the Industrial Relations Commission (IRC) had previously lifted Bans and Limitations on Tuesday 11 October 2008.

The Government had been asked by the IRC to “reconsider its position.”

The Government position, as stated in the IRC on Wednesday 12 October 2008, did not adequately respond to PSA members' concerns.

Thus Bans have been put back in place to ensure that members do not move to Shared Services SA, unless the issues are resolved to members' satisfaction.