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After 12 months of negotiations and four months of industrial action, an agreement has been reached between national law firm Maurice Blackburn and its unionised workers.
The height of the industrial action taken by Australian Services Union (ASU) members at law firm Maurice Blackburn featured alleged lock-outs, the altering of out-of-office emails, and accusations of “hypocrisy”.
Now, negotiations have resulted in an agreement between the two parties – including an 11 per cent pay rise for all staff covered by the proposed agreement.
“The ASU has accepted in principle our final offer for a new enterprise agreement,” said a spokesperson from Maurice Blackburn.
“Under the proposed agreement, staff earning less than $100,000 will receive a 5.5 per cent pay rise in the first year. This group includes 60 per cent of Maurice Blackburn’s staff, including administrators, receptionists, client service workers and legal assistants.”
“Other staff covered by the enterprise agreement will receive a 4 per cent pay increase in the first year. The increase will be 3.5 per cent in the second and third year for all staff covered by the proposed agreement.”
ASU national secretary Emeline Gaske praised the unionised workers who “held the line” for achieving this “breakthrough”.
“After 12 months of difficult negotiations and four months of sustained national industrial action, ASU members at Maurice Blackburn have overwhelmingly endorsed an in-principal agreement with the firm,” Gaske said.
“This breakthrough only came because union members were prepared to take escalating, sustained action. They held the line, stood together, and secured a fair outcome for all staff.”
A major point of conflict throughout the 12 months of negotiations was the extension of reproductive leave beyond four days to 10 days in total. It’s an initiative that the law firm itself previously supported in a statement back in 2022 – eliciting accusations of hypocrisy from staff.
After being mulled over through negotiations, both parties agreed on an increase to six days of reproductive leave.
“The firm has also agreed to six days of paid reproductive leave in the agreement as well as a range of other benefits,” said a Maurice Blackburn spokesperson.
Gaske expressed how the enterprise agreement achieves “real improvements” for all staff working at the firm.
“The deal delivers real improvements, particularly for those on lower incomes, with a 5.5 per cent wage rise in the first year for employees earning under $100,000, and enhanced workplace rights like reproductive health leave, gender affirmation leave, and improved redundancy entitlements,” Gaske said.
“It’s a clear demonstration of what can be achieved when workers are united, organised, and determined to fight for respect and fairness at work.”
Maurice Blackburn, one of the nation’s largest plaintiff law firms, said it remains supportive of unionised movements.
“Maurice Blackburn Lawyers is one of only two major law firms that supports staff to join unions so that they have strong representation during enterprise bargaining agreement negotiations,” the spokesperson said.
“Maurice Blackburn Lawyers has a long and proud history of backing workers and the broader union movement.”
“We want to thank the ASU and its members for their commitment to the bargaining process.”
The news follows the union agreement reached by more than 600 staff at fellow national plaintiff law firm Slater & Gordon in December of last year.
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Industrial relations is the management and evaluation of the interactions between employers, workers, and representative organisations like unions.
Kace O'Neill
Kace O'Neill is a Graduate Journalist for HR Leader. Kace studied Media Communications and Maori studies at the University of Otago, he has a passion for sports and storytelling.
