All or nothing at Burdekin Shire Council

The Services Union met with Burdekin Shire Council last week for further discussions around your new Certified Agreement (CA).

In a marked change of pace, the Council tabled a comprehensive proposal for your consideration.

The proposal includes the following pay offer –

• Certification: 3.5% or $45/wk
• Year 2: 3.25% or $40/wk
• Year 3: 3% or $40/wk

While this component alone requires careful consideration, it’s concerning that the Council has tabled this offer as part of a fixed package (click here for full details) which the Council says must be accepted in its entirety. Further to this point, the Council stated explicitly that it has no desire to negotiate any of the package’s items separately.

Clearly this ‘all or nothing’ negotiating approach flies in the face of good faith bargaining principles, and we told the Council this in no uncertain terms.

We’ll hold member meetings to seek your input on our response to the Council’s proposal, which we will table when we resume negotiations on Wednesday 29 May. Pencil Tuesday 21 May into your calendar and we will confirm this date and timings shortly.

In the meantime, remind your colleagues that if they are not yet members of your union and want a better deal, now is the time to join online.

If you have questions please contact your workplace delegate Jodie Towning.