Australian Services Union outlines priorities ahead of negotiations with City of Greater Geelong

The union representing Geelong council workers says job security and an hourly wage increase of up to $5 are at the top of its priority list ahead of a new enterprise agreement coming into effect on July 1.

Tash Wark is deputy secretary of the Australian Services Union’s Victorian and Tasmanian branch.

Job security for Geelong council workers and an hourly wage increase of up to $5 are the top priorities for the union representing employees as it prepares to kick off negotiations for a new enterprise agreement.

The existing three-year agreement is set to end on June 30 and the Australian Services Union’s (ASU) Tash Wark said ensuring services were not outsourced was paramount to any deal getting done.

She highlighted the review of City Hall’s home care packages for elderly residents and the approximately 260 council workers employed in that area as a case in point.

“Job security in aged care is a massive concern for our members,” she said.

“We are highly concerned about any moves that might see in-home aged care be outsourced … and other core council services for that matter.”

At last week’s council meeting, councillor Bruce Harwood said a “mature” debate was needed on what services City Hall provided.

“I think it is 127 services we currently provide,” he said.

“I think it is time we need to look at what we do best and what we’re not able to do best for various circumstances, whether it’s financial capacity, resources capacity, staff capacity, whatever it may be.”

Ms Wark was reluctant to nominate a specific target for any wage increase, saying instead that Geelong workers currently lagged behind councils such as Merri-Bek, Wyndham, Whittlesea and Hume.

“Workers at Geelong city council are paid less than at comparable councils,” she said.

“That can be anywhere between $2 an hour up to $5 an hour, so we’ll be seeking something that deals with the cost of living pressures everyone is experiencing.”

City of Greater Geelong boss Ali Wastie. Picture: Mark Wilson.

The City of Greater Geelong employs close to 3000 people across all its operations.

Chief executive Ali Wastie, who commenced in August, unveiled a new executive team late last year following an earlier decision to cut the number of directorates from five to four.

“We’re looking forward to working with our employees over the coming months to explore how we keep improving careers at the city through a range of methods,” she said.

“This includes our enterprise agreement negotiations, and our office activation project, which is bringing our office teams together to build collaboration and be visible in how we serve the community, given 70 per cent of our teams are in community-facing roles every day.”

The ASU is holding a series of site meetings with workers this week as it arms itself with as much information as possible.

“We’ll probably be seeking a two-year agreement, but that hasn’t been formally tabled yet though,” Ms Wark said.

The ASU is aware of around 25 redundancies that have occurred at City Hall in the past 12 months.

“That concern around job security is also because those redundancies that have occurred,” Ms Wark said.

“Council workers, ASU members, bore the brunt of job cuts and poor wage offers as council was placed under a state government monitor for its incompetent management.

“It’s time for council’s workers to be recognised and recompensed in a way which shows they are valued.”

An analysis of council wages last year revealed full-time Geelong council staff earned an average annual salary of $113,323.

Originally published as Australian Services Union outlines priorities ahead of negotiations with City of Greater Geelong