Full Bench releases Mareeba decision

The Full Bench of the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission has released its decision regarding The Services Union’s request for assistance to make a Certified Agreement (CA) with Mareeba Shire Council.

Maternity leave is in, but personal leave stays at 12 days. That’s the basic summary of the outcome, and you can read the whole decision by clicking here .  

The Full Bench has given the Council the benefit of the doubt and accepted its tales of financial doom and gloom as the basis for rejecting our Union’s argument in favour of restoring personal leave to 15 days annually. 

However, a review of the Council’s 2021 Annual Report reveals that the prediction of doom which the Council put to the Full Bench does not appear to have eventuated. 

On a positive note, the Full Bench found that contrary to the bizarre case put by the Council, there is an “… ongoing benefit to the Community from the inclusion of a maternity leave provision”. 

Our Union will now recommence negotiations for the next CA. We will be by your side in what will no doubt be another very interesting exercise. Members of The Services Union can take pride in the fact that our efforts to maintain and restore conditions have delivered, at least in terms of paid parental leave. If you work with someone who is not yet a member and wants to contribute to an even better outcome this time around, remind them that joining is easy online.