By now many members will have received a letter signed by the Minister for Finance, John Lenders. This letter is, in the opinion of the unions, highly dubious. The combined emergency services unions have been negotiating with the minister and his representatives for some considerable time now, and remain unconvinced about the "commitments" included in his letter.

1. The letter claims that "Your entitlements are enshrined by legislation and guaranteed by the State". The unions remain very concerned that, as this is the second attempt to attack our super in six months, this proposal is in fact the beginning of the end for the defined benefit you are rightly entitled to receive when you retire.
2. The letter claims "No part of this merger will impact on your benefits". Talk is cheap, John. The fact is that ESSS is fully funded and GSO has massive liabilities. That means that if you retire today ESSS has the dollars to pay you out. Why should our members give this up on the basis of your word, minister?
3. The letter also claims that "The scheme will remain open to new members". But there are no guarantees the scheme won't change. We have asked the minister that while the scheme will remain open, what guarantees are there that the scheme will not be changed. We don't want to see a guarantee that a different second-rate scheme will be open to everyone.

Now let's consider a few phrases in the letter that the minister didn't put in bold type face.

?"The integration will mean that the new ESSS Board will formally take over responsibility…". Not the Board that has managed ESSS so responsibly into a funded state. And not the Board that needs the support of the elected member representatives before it makes changes, so that your input can be heard. The unions have no guarantees about the structure of this new board, but fear the possibility that public servant representatives from GSO will outnumber emergency services representatives, and whose money will they want?

• "On 1 December 2005 the ESSS and GSO will become one organistation". This sounds less like negotiation and more like a decision has been made, doesn't it? Your unions have been very disappointed with the negotiation process thus far, now we find out that the decision has already been made. Not on our watch, minister.
• "Government remains committed to engaging with key stakeholders, including emergency services unions, over a number of details regarding implementation". No minister, that simply won't do. We are not happy with the proposal, and will not negotiate on its implementation. This is an insult both to the unions and their collective memberships.

STAND UNITED AGAINST THIS GOVERNMENT'S ARROGANCE
      
Paul Mullett                      Peter Marshall                     Steve McGhie
Secretary                         Secretary                            Secretary
The Police Association      United Firefighters Union      Ambulance Employees Union