Stonnington Council: 16-month EBA stalemate with 200+ workers continues

An inner Melbourne council has raised the ire of its workers after it tried to increase their ordinary hours of pay and cut back on overtime loadings.

Stonnington Council is yet to finalise a new EBA agreement with hundreds of workers, 16 months after negotiations began. File picture.

An inner city council remains locked in a 16-month battle over working arrangements with hundreds of staff, after it tried to extend their ordinary working hours and cut back on overtime payments.

Stonnington Council wanted to pay its workers at an ordinary rate until 8pm on weekdays in its latest enterprise bargaining agreement offer, which it began negotiating more than a year ago in March 2021.

The offer, sent earlier this month and seen by Leader, was rejected by members of the Australian Services Union earlier this week.

Stonnington wanted to increase employees’ maximum number of working hours per day from nine to 10 hours “to provide flexibility and ability for council to offer services to community”.

It also wanted to extend the span of ordinary pay by two hours on weekdays from 6am to 8pm, up from the present arrangement which ended at 6pm.

In return, the council offered employees either a two per cent annual pay rise, or an extra $30 per week, whichever was higher.

It also offered an extra 12 weeks of paternity leave, and a day of leave for indigenous staff to attend funerals or ceremonial commitments.

ASU deputy branch secretary Tash Wark said its members, which included more than 200 council gardners, leisure facilities workers, road maintenance workers and office staff, were angered by the push to take away loadings after 6pm.

“Their advice is no one wants to come in and pay their rates at 7.30 at night,” Ms Wark said.

“The attempt to reduce the take-home pay of many workers by increasing the spread of ordinary hours within which they can work without being paid overtime is unfair.

“We’re talking about an area that boasts about having low rates, so it’s hard for members to stomach … this (the EBA) needs to be sorted and needs to meet the rising costs of living.”

The EBA is yet to be finalised despite councillors and mayors across the state, including those from Stonnington, getting immediate pay rises from four to eight per cent after an independent tribunal review in March.

Stonnington chief executive Jacqui Weatherill said there had been “significant recent progress” in the council’s negotiations.

“We look forward to continuing to work with bargaining representatives to provide a fair outcome for all in this challenging economic environment,” she said.

The council declined to comment on the proposal to increase employees’ hours of ordinary pay.

Earlier this year, more than 500 Moreland Council staff took to the streets over its pay deal, following a breakdown after 10 months of negotiations.

The dispute led to the closure of libraries and rubbish not being picked up from residents’ homes.

The ASU later accepted a “significantly improved” offer from the council on May 12.