Union kicks off bargaining at Maranoa

The Services Union will always be by your side at Maranoa Regional Council to achieve the pay and conditions you deserve. Our Union commenced negotiations with the Council last week for your new Certified Agreement (CA). We exchanged and discussed our respective logs of claims, and it was immediately clear that we are not in for an easy ride.

The Council has apparently only budgeted for 2.5% annual wage increases. We told the Council that it would need to drastically improve that offer. The underlying inflation rate is an unprecedented 4.9%, and the Reserve Bank of Australia predicts the cost of living will increase further before it starts to subside.

As you will see from the Council’s log of claims , the Council has also proposed several reductions to your existing conditions, including increasing your span of ordinary hours to 5am – 7pm (currently 5am – 6pm). Additionally, the Council came prepared with a complete re-draft of the CA, which includes changes not referred to in its log, such as alterations to part-time arrangements. We reinforced that our strong view is to use the existing CA as the starting point for negotiations.

As your ally in the workplace, Our Union’s priority is to achieve an outcome appropriate to the current economic situation, based on your log of claims . We know from experience that strong membership is the key to a fair deal. Remind your colleagues of the work we’re doing and encourage anyone not already a member to join online today.