Let's get it right at City of Gold Coast


Members of The Services Union at City of Gold Coast know that your new Certified Agreement will govern your pay and conditions for the next three years, so it’s important we get it right. That’s why we’ve increased the meeting frequency to weekly, and why we carefully analyse and consider everything the City proposes before responding.

Yesterday the City provided extensive pay modelling around its current proposal of three annual 4.5% increases (with a CPI adjuster capped at 6.5% on the final year). As per our undertaking at the table, we will carefully dissect the City’s proposal to ascertain the benefits and any potential pitfalls. However, we made it clear that we don’t yet see any reason to lower our sights from our current position of 6%, 6% and 4.5% (with uncapped CPI adjuster on the final year). Not only have other, smaller councils agreed to provide three-year packages containing upwards of 15%, we’re also keen to ensure our negotiated outcome addresses the fact that your pay rates have drifted significantly behind the cost of living.

The City’s modelling also included figures for Local Area Agreement (LAA) employees, predicated on applicable allowances rolled into base rates. Whilst we’re committed to giving genuine consideration, our position remains that the choice to remove any LAA arrangement rests with the affected members. And while the City also provided comprehensive modelling on how its back-pay proposal would assist you transition to fortnightly pays, our position similarly remains that moving away from weekly pay is ultimately a collective decision for members, based on the whatever benefits we are able to negotiate into the total package.

We told the City that its proposed reduction of ordinary hours without reduced pay needs to go further and requested consideration of a 35-hour week across the board. Our Union cited precedent in the New South Wales Public Service and Local Government sectors and the stevedoring industry nationally. We suggested that a standard 35-hour week would present a more tangible gain for Stream A staff, and would improve the City’s attraction and retention of outdoor employees given that the construction industry has a standard 36-hour week.

If you have any questions before we return to the table next Tuesday, talk to your Workplace Delegate. Remind your colleagues about the work we’re doing to achieve the right deal for you. If they’re not already members, encourage them to  join online