Sunshine Coast Council – the latest on your Agreement

 
 As your ally in the workplace at Sunshine Coast Council, The Services Union is keen to get it right for your new Certified Agreement (CA). After all, it’s your pay and conditions for the next three years, and we’re still experiencing challenging economic circumstances.

The good news is that we think we’ve got it right in terms of the new Wellbeing, Health and Safety provision. The Council has agreed to our proposed wording changes and supported our suggestion for a suicide awareness training provider.

For the rest of the CA we unfortunately have a fair way to go. If you’ve been relocated to the new City Hall, the Council won’t provide any mitigation against your ongoing daily battle with under-resourced public transport or with traffic and parking. If you’re stuck at home or have to leave work due to severe weather, the Council still wants to make you jump through unnecessary administrative hoops to access Natural Disaster Leave. The Council doesn’t support maintaining employer superannuation contribution while on unpaid parental leave, or allowing any unpaid leave to count as service for all purposes. The Council says these would present complexities and administrative burdens.

As for pay, the Council clearly still thinks its offer adequately addresses the current cost-of-living issues on the Coast. The 6% proposed for the first year might be worth considering elsewhere, but does nothing to bring you back up to speed after the sub-standard increases of your current CA.

We’re back at the table tomorrow, and we’ll press your case for a CA that delivers appropriate pay and conditions. Once again we welcome all new members who have joined us since our last update, and we warmly invite anyone not yet a member to get on board and help achieve the deal you deserve. It's easy online.