Toowoomba council workers take strike action over low wages, gender pay gap

Nearly 100 council workers have taken strike action outside City Hall to protest low wages and what some employees have called a “clear” gender pay gap within the organisation.

Angry Toowoomba council workers have taken to the streets to call for a significant pay rise, with female employees lashing the organisation’s “clear” gender pay gap.

Nearly 100 members of The Services Union and other council employees engaged in the first protected action on Thursday as protracted enterprise bargaining negotiations continue to stall.

Workers marched around City Hall chanting “eight, six, five” in reference to the three-year pay increases demanded by unions.

The action shut down at least one library in the Toowoomba region, with str

The Services Union members and Toowoomba Regional Council employees take part in strike action outside City Hall, July 25 2024.

iking workers saying they were prepared for even more disruptions in the future.

So far, the council has refused to shift on its current pay offer of six per cent in the first year, followed by five and then four in subsequent years.

It comes as data the Queensland Audit Office, compiled by the union, have suggested Toowoomba indoor council workers are among the lowest-paid among comparable local government areas.

A wage comparison for a level 3.1 worker puts Toowoomba dead last ($70,069) when compared against 13 other councils, behind Townsville, Gold Coast, Cairns and Logan.

The Services Union members and Toowoomba Regional Council employees take part in strike action outside City Hall, July 25 2024. TSU secretary Neil Henderson.

TSU secretary Neil Henderson said the protest should act as a “wake up” call to the council to improve its offer ahead of the 75th anniversary of the Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers.

“There’s a cost-of-living crisis here in Toowoomba just like every other part of QUeensland, and its workforce needs a decent pay rise to get by,” he said.

“The council is of the view they can get by with a small increase now, but the workers know that if they don’t get a decent pay rise this time, it will be gone.

“It’s become clear to our negotiators that nothing else is going to happen at the bargaining table, so this is the next logical step to show to council the workforce is serious about its demands.

“It’s trying to stonewall itself outside of the situation, but I can tell them the problem is not going away.”

The Services Union members and Toowoomba Regional Council employees take part in strike action outside City Hall, July 25 2024. TSU secretary Neil Henderson leads a chant with staff.

Female workers have also slammed the council’s lack of gender equity, with the TRC’s own figures showing female indoor workers earned about $80 a week less than their male counterparts on average (about 10 per cent).

The same report showed women held most of the lower-level positions (trainee to level four) within the indoor workforce, with men occupying more of the jobs for level five to eight.

One female employee in the libraries areas, who spoke anonymously, said women were given less opportunities to move up within the council.

The Services Union members and Toowoomba Regional Council employees take part in strike action outside City Hall, July 25 2024. TSU organiser Anna Krupitza leads a march.

“The biggest thing is, working in libraries, it’s a predominantly female based industry, so we already have a very low wage,” she said.

“Particularly in my industry, we predominantly have people in a one or a level two position, and it’s really hard to go much further than that, because positions are so few and far between.

“All of our higher level positions are all male managers, so we do see a gap there.

“We’ve seen those tables that show us that, so we know that the higher-up positions, going from the level five are male-dominated.”

Mr Henderson said the Toowoomba council had not done enough to address the gender pay issues within its workforce.

“We want to see the female workforce of the council remunerated properly,” he said.

“We know there is a gender pay gap in Toowoomba and we want to start taking action to remedy that gap.

“I don’t think they’ve taken any steps.”

Council responds to demands, concerns

Toowoomba Regional Council CEO Brian Pidgeon during an ordinary meeting of council, Tuesday, May 28, 2024. Picture: Kevin Farmer

In response to the demands, Toowoomba council chief executive Brian Pidgeon said the council’s offer was fair given the financial cosntraints on the organisation.

“Council is acutely aware of the nation-wide cost-of-living pressures which also impact our people and the region’s ratepayers, who will ultimately have to fund council’s labour costs including wage increases,” he said.

“Negotiations with the Unions regarding the current enterprise bargaining agreement have been productive with TRC committed to finalising the process as quickly as possible to deliver fair and reasonable increases to our people.

“Council believes that the current wage/condition increases offered to unions, strikes the right balance to maintain financial sustainability and is fair, reasonable and acceptable to ratepayers and the majority of council’s employees.

“The combined unions have countered that council’s offer is unacceptable and have proposed wage increases that are not financially sustainable.”

Mr Pidgeon said men and women were paid equally at the council, calling the union’s claims “misleading”.

“Council adheres to the law in regard to same work same pay. Gender pay gaps are not a comparison of like roles,” he said.

“Council has a range of measures to enhance the experience for our female workforce including a proposed uplift in paid parental leave, a women in leadership program which is underway, the creation of a diversity and inclusion policy and associated strategy, the continuation of development programs such as mentoring as well as generous flexible working arrangements.

“Upskilling our female workforce and providing opportunities for senior leadership and professional roles are also part of the mix to address the gender pay gap.”

Mr Pidgeon also countered union claims about Toowoomba’s pay level compared with other councils, arguing it needed clarification.

“Our research has shown there are variations in enterprise agreement expiry dates, pay increases and conditions for white collar employees who may be Services Union members in the tier two councils,” he said.

“This makes it very difficult to directly compare and value the differing employee benefits that apply under each tier two council enterprise agreements.”