Council drops contentious vaccination mandate after employees stack warchest for legal stoush

The Gold Coast City Council backflipped on its controversial Covid-19 jab mandate after unvaccinated staff threatened marathon legal action. Read how the stoush unfolded.

The Gold Coast City Council backflipped on its controversial Covid jab mandate after unvaccinated staff threatened marathon legal action.

Eight members of the City of Gold Coast Pro-Choice Alliance group had lawyers at the ready for a Queensland Industrial Relations Commission earmarked for 2pm Wednesday.

They claim council CEO Tim Baker told about 4010 staff at 12.57pm that the entire vaccine mandate policy had been canned.Council administration reject that timing, saying the decision was made much earlier.

The staff legal team included human rights specialist barrister Benedict Coyne and solicitor Samir Banga, from Banga Legal, who have been running various challenges to vaccine mandates around Australia in different jurisdictions.

Gold Coast City Council has dropped their pursuit of mandatory COViD vaccinations for its employees.

Congratulations to those who held the line, fought hard for their civil rights & pushed back against medical discrimination. pic.twitter.com/7MOT25SzMz

— Melinda Richards 🇦🇺🇺🇸 (@goodfoodgal) March 2, 2022

“My clients are happy with the significant win but also wished it had never had to come to this, and it wouldn’t have had the council negotiated in good faith,” Mr Banga said.

“My clients are also very relieved as this has taken a significant amount of work and stress over the past few months to shut down a deficient proposed policy with a highly deficient and shambolic consultation process.”

Mr Banga suggested council was “very wise” not proceed with the mandate.

“Such a policy is both unnecessary and tramples over council worker’s rights to choose whether to be vaccinated or whether to employ other protective measures such as working from home, using masks, face shields and PPE and social distancing and the like,” he said.

“Thankfully my clients can now enjoy some relief now and get back to work and back to the business of taking pride in their jobs. They love their jobs working for the council and hope to remain working there long into the future.”

A a city spokesperson said: “Consultation on the policy ended on February 28. The City made a decision within two days and moved to inform staff as soon as possible.”Mayor Tom Tate, who has regarded the issue as one for the administration, said the council was guided by state government legislation.

“Covid’s changed with Omicron, in the past four weeks since we came out to warn staff that we may have to go that way (impose a vaccine mandate),” he said.

“The requirement for mandating vaccination was able to be dropped. I’m a pro-choice person, so on the staffing matter here, I’m pleased that everyone can come back to work and the main thing is the crucial services such as waste and water now I know are secure.”

MARCH 2: The council will not pursue and order up to 400 employees to get a double vaccination against Covid.

Several sources on Wednesday afternoon confirmed council CEO Tim Baker has updated city employees on council’s policy position on vaccinations.

He had indicated the city would “not pursue mandatory vaccination policy at this stage”.

Employees fighting to stop the vaccinations on social media were claiming victory.

“Congratulations to those who held the line, fought hard for their civil rights and pushed back against medical discrimination,” a campaigner wrote.

The decision will divide some staffers. Many employees have indicated they don’t want to sit with unvaccinated staffers.

The Bulletin last month reported the decision was one for the administration and not councillors, and there appeared to be some rethinking in all local authorities about taking a hard-line stance.

The story revealed internally, city hall staff were at war over the issue.The view emerging as next month’s likely cut-off date for double vaccinations approached was that more than 90 per cent of the workforce would be covered and “we are moving from a pandemic to an endemic”.

Administrators questioned if it was right to refuse staff their employment and income.

A council insider told Bulletin: “I think we have undertaken our duty of care here as a local government. We have mitigated anyone taking action against us for attending a public event (like at a library where they might get infected).”

Mr Baker told staffers the key changes to the pandemic included:

• The Omicron wave has now past its peak for most of Queensland.
• The Omicron variant is currently the dominate strain, and for most people, it results in flu-like symptoms where non-prescription pain killers and other first aid treatments are applied.
• Gold Coast vaccination rates are high, with 87.9 per cent of adults now double-dosed, and data indicating that the risk of severe illness is greatly reduced in people who are vaccinated.
• Federal and state governments have announced key changes to public health and social measures, including reducing mask wearing and allowing in fully vaccinated travellers.

Mr Baker said  revised Covid-19 Risk Assessment was recently finalised by council.

"The key change to the updated risk assessment relates to the consequences of being infected," he said.

"The re-assessment found that for most people who test positive for Covid-19, flu-like symptoms develop which can be managed with non-prescription pain killers such as paracetamol.

"This is largely due to the Omicron variant and high vaccination rates.

"When the risk assessment was originally prepared in early December 2021, the consequence of being infected at the time - higher risk of severe illness - was more significant due to a lower number of people being protected with full vaccinations and the Delta variant being the dominate strain of Covid-19 at the time.

Council will continue the risk assessment outcome,for feedback for another month until April 1.

Anti-vaxxers fundraise to bankroll fight against council mandates

FEBRUARY 14: Gold Coast City Council is a Covid-19 war zone, with anti-vaxxers and pro-choice employees launching a campaign to stop a looming compulsory vaccination mandate.

On the other side are vaccinated staff furious at being seated next to openly unvaccinated colleagues.

The council has a proposed policy for mandating a double vaccine dose by March 31 – but is returning to pre-Covid work arrangements next Monday.

The Bulletin can reveal a group, called CoGC Pro-Choice Alliance, sent an email missive to try and rally all staff hours after new council CEO Tim Baker updated employees on the return-to-work policy.

A council source said the Pro-Choice Alliance directed colleagues to a website which anti-vax staffers with their social media groups began assembling before Christmas.

The professional site includes personal stories from staffers and outlines “campaign” plans along with fundraising.

Tim Baker, Gold Coast City Council’s new CEO announced the plan.

The council source said: “A quick calculation on their fundraising suggests if they were to obtain funds from the estimated 400 unvaxxed staff they’d amass a war chest of $120,000. The group’s committee includes senior staffers.”

Council workers are divided with many furious about being seated next to openly unvaccinated and protesting employees they contend will put them at risk of the virus and infect their vulnerable family members at home.

“The City’s interim solution is we are to alternate our days in the office so we don’t sit next to each other – not good enough. I have vulnerable family members and don’t want to risk unnecessary exposure,” a worker said.

A City spokeperson said staff were advised on Thursday all employees would be required to return to their pre-Covid working arrangements on February 21.

“They will join the many staff in operational, outdoor, and critical office roles who continued to work from their usual work locations throughout the most recent Covid outbreak,” the spokesperson said.

“As per (state government) advice, health and safety controls will continue to apply for all staff including social distancing, wearing masks where required, sanitising and cleaning protocols.”

Mayor Tom Tate has been an outspoken advocate of ‘pro choice’, however his opinion is at loggerheads with council’s policy.

The Bulletin asked council about updates to staffers about mandatory vaccination, and to respond to confusion for many who believed they would need to have a double dose against Covid by March 31.

“Our draft Vaccination Policy proposes a March 31 commencement date, however consultation on the policy and accompanying risk assessment is still open for staff feedback,” the city spokesperson said

Asked if council was aware that a pro-choice alliance was ramping up a campaign, the spokesperson replied: “We are aware of staff who oppose the policy and we are actively engaging with them.”

The Bulletin understands staffers have until February 28 to respond to a survey which will guide council’s final decision on a mandate.