Even the worst attacks can have a silver lining – Australia’s journey from payroll deductions to opportunity

Even the worst attacks can have a silver lining –

Australia’s journey from payroll deductions to

opportunityGuest Speaker John Dixon, General Secretary, New South Wales Teachers Federation (NSWTF)

Hosted by Kyle Bazzy, Director of Growth, Billhighway and

Ron Krouse, Senior Advisor, Billhighway

January 18th, 2017

Learning Objectives01 Summarize Challenges

What happened in Australia to force changes in labor (right to work, loss of payroll, etc.)

02 NSWTF ResponseHow did NSWTF respond to these unfavorable political moves?

03 Impact on MembersHow did losing collective bargaining and payroll deductions impact the culture and mindset of the organization?

04 AdviceWords of wisdom for labor unions in the US

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John Dixon• General Secretary of the NSW Teachers Federation since 7/23/14

• Worked as an elected officer of the union for thirty years

• Won several ACTU Media and Communications Awards

• Influential in the development of the Union's online presence

Why We’re Qualified

Kyle Bazzy • Director of Growth, Billhighway

• Proud Detroiter

Ron Krouse• Senior Advisor, Billhighway

• 40 years of experience working with Labor Unions

Union is coming up to its Centenary of existence in 2018 Largest branch of the Australian Education Union Membership dues are controlled by the state branch NSWTF has 70,000 members AEU has 250,000 members nationwide Consists of 167 local teachers associations, but they don’t bargain Lost payroll deductions twice in their history Payroll deductions = 65% of membership base, but dues processed by

payroll = over 80% of total income

NSW Teachers Federation

“One of my worst days as a Union Activist was to get all of the Officers’ and staff and tell them that unless “we” could get an invoice out before Christmas we would be laying off half of the staff by the end of January.”

What happened in Australia to force changes in labor?


How did NSWTF respond to these unfavorable

political moves?


What were some of the initial reactions from leaders in NSWTF?


How did losing payroll deductions impact the

culture and mindset of the organization?


What was the impact on members, and the

services they received?


What drove the decision to turn down payroll

deductions?


The mindset• The campaign had to correlate with our ‘your

rights at work campaign’ • As an attack on their individual job security• As an attack on their right to be protected• As an attack on the collective strength of the

Union to argue for future salary increases and working conditions

The “Switch Campaign”


The risk of reliance on payroll deductions (PRD)• The employer has control of the process; unions particularly public sector unions

are exposed

• Devastating impact on Victorian public sector unions after Kennett promptly withdrew PRD – the Vic teacher union is still recovering over a decade later

• Lack of preparation = lack of ability to quickly switch and re-sign members

• WA & SA teacher unions declined offer by Labor Governments to reinstate PRD

• Other unions have stopped offering PRD and are actively switching members to other payment methods


Payment method breakdown before the switch• 64% members coded as PRD

• 5% members coded as direct debit (Teachers Credit Union)

• 31% members coded as ‘Invoice’• These members pay their fees by:

• Pay by phone (credit card), BPay, Online payment via our website, Cash or cheque


84%PRD represents

over 84% ofour membership

subscription income

Our Target in 2006 is:• To move over 60% of our PRD members to

Direct Debit or Auto credit card payment

Our Target by mid-2007 is:• To have 90% of our PRD members on Direct Debit

or Auto credit card payment



Direct Debit Implementation• All officers and staff to be trained in DD procedures and frequently asked questions

• March Council we will brief/train 300 Councilors

• Align DD with pay day to mimic PRD – less bounces

• All member information to be 128-bit encrypted for online transaction to world best practice; plus our record on privacy of member records

• We will generate a statement each financial year for members to claim tax deduction

• All new re-designed membership forms have removed option of PRD

• We have run two trial programs to pre-test and refine “make the switch” forms and information for current members with organisers to get feedback and modifications


Major upgrade to online payment gateway• This will allow members to initiate direct debit or direct credit card payment

for new and existing members 24 hours / 7 days per week

• Allow members to make one-off payments in response to invoice generated by paper or email

• Allow new members to join with one-off payment

• It will allow members to update their details in a secure environment


Phase one: Pre-trial • Each PSU organiser to select two workplaces

• Organise visit (this may invoice pre-visit with Fed Rep)

• Intensive ‘follow-up’ of individual members by phone or email to complete forms

Phase one: Pre-trial evaluation• Feedback from Organisers and other officers

• Evaluation of numbers, what additional material or information we need

• Production of ‘new’ print material and journal stories*


Phase Two: Trial • Launch at March Council – training/briefing of all Councillors

• We have to take it in stages – there are 29,000 members to convert to meet 2006 target

Phase Three: Roll-out to all members• The ‘Roll-out’ could include all or any combination of:


• Letters/email to members

• Kits to Fed Reps

• Extensive follow-up by organisers

• Training in all TUT courses of Fed Reps

• Organisers to train activists at Association level

PRD Members - Hints• Most important information is:

• Name on Bank account, bank account number and bank branch or credit card number and expiry date

• Next is mobile phone number and email address – especially for follow up by organisers or membership staff

• If necessary get them to ring their bank to get the account number

• This campaign is EVERYONE’S responsibility!


77.84%THE RESULTS

As of January 2017…

Union deductions not on payroll


Words of advice

Conclusion

Technology

Even the worst attacks can have a silver lining – Australia’s journey from payroll deductions to opportunity