Urgency lacking at Western Downs Regional Council

The Services Union is your ally in the workplace at Western Downs Regional Council. We therefore understand your eagerness to negotiate a decent pay increase as soon as possible, especially with the underlying inflation rate at a 20-year high of 6.9%. Unfortunately, the Council doesn’t seem to share your sense of urgency.

When our Union met with the Council for further Certified Agreement (CA) discussions last week, the Council was unable to respond to your claims which we tabled at the previous meeting of 23 February. When we pressed the Council for more detail around its intention to increase the span of your ordinary hours, all the Council could offer was that it wanted ‘greater flexibility’. Unless the Council can provide further clarity, we will of course be unable to agree with this proposition.

We are also still awaiting the Council’s summary of gender distribution across pay levels, a new requirement of the relevant legislation. The Council undertook at the outset of bargaining to provide this. Given the extent of the information we are awaiting from the Council, it shouldn’t be a surprise that we’ve also yet to discuss your pay increase, even though we flagged at the commencement of negotiations that this is your absolute priority.

We’re unsure of why the Council finds itself unable to get moving at an appropriate pace. What we do know is that a strong and active Union in your workplace is the best resource to get the job done. If you work with someone who is not yet a member and is keen for a pay deal that addresses the current economic circumstances, remind them that joining is easy online.