Members to decide next steps towards better pay at Hinchinbrook Shire Council

The Services Union held further Certified Agreement (CA) discussions with Hinchinbrook Shire Council last week. Once again, we pressed your case for an acceptable pay offer, given how far you’ve drifted behind the economic indicators over your current CA. Once again, the Council failed to table a worthwhile offer.

On the positive side, the Council has accepted our requested expansion of your current Flexible Work Arrangements provision for enhanced access to a Four-Day Week or similar. The Council has also met us half-way on our claim around salary maintenance for staff redeployed at a lower level due to redundancy, and has offered six months’ maintenance at the higher rate.

However, the Council wants to expand ordinary hours of certain work groups such as libraries, galleries and events to 6am – 10pm on any five out of seven days. And as for your pay, the Council is sticking to its position of 4.5% (year one), 3.75% (year two) and 3.5% (year three). This offer clearly ignores the fact that your current CA only provided 4% over three years, while CPI increased by 8.4%.

Your Workplace Delegates have organised a report-back meeting for all members tomorrow at 1pm in the Wagtail Room at TYTO. If you can’t physically make it, you can dial in. Please contact us if you have not received the dial in link. This meeting will be your chance to discuss our next steps towards securing a fair deal, including how we can effectively utilise the Protected Industrial Action you voted to support (and which the Industrial Registry has now authorised). If you have any questions before then, please contact your Workplace Delegates Joel Elkhorne, Carolyn Juides and Mitchell Whittington. Anyone who is not yet a member and wants a say on our next steps can join quickly and confidentially online at www.theservicesunion.com.au/join.