Toowoomba Regional Council workers set to strike after talks with union turn sour over demands

Enterprise bargaining negotiations between the Toowoomba Regional Council and unions have soured and industrial action looks likely to go ahead soon.

Hundreds of Toowoomba Regional Council workers could stop work and hold strikes within weeks, after enterprise bargaining negotiations with unions turned sour.

Several union representatives confirmed they had started the process for protected industrial action, arguing the council had failed to act in good faith and hadn’t agreed to several major demands.

The most pressing of the 24 worker requests included a wage increase at least tied to the rising cost of living, an 85c per hour asbestos allowance and a similar concept for employees who worked with high voltage, a maintained superannuation increase and ensuring protections to stop forced depot closures and redundancies remained in place.

Employees also want a four-day working week to improve productivity and quality of life.

Electrical Trades Union organiser and co-lead negotiator Dan McGaw said the council had left the unions with little choice.

“Things turned sour (on Wednesday), they refused to budge again and they verbally insulted our union officials (so) now we’re commencing industrial action,” he said.

“We have reconvened and we are starting the process and we’ll commence once it’s approved.”

Mr McGaw said the council had brought in lawyers to negotiate with the unions, something he said was unprecedented during his time as an organiser.

“I’ve been doing 10 years of council negotiations and this is the first time that they’ve used consultants,” he said.

“It just highlights how arrogant council is being with these negotiations.”

Mr McGaw called on council CEO Brian Pidgeon to join the negotiating table, saying the situation reflected how employees and members felt about the workplace.

“I’ve never seen workers so resolved to stick it to them,” he said.

“The culture there is terrible and we thought this was an opportunity for the CEO could address it.”

COUNCIL RESPONDS TO INDUSTRIAL ACTION THREAT

Mr Pidgeon said he believed the council had been negotiating in good faith.

“Toowoomba Regional Council representatives met with the Combined Unions on July 14," he said.

“All unions rejected council’s revised offer as part of ongoing enterprise bargaining negotiations and indicated they now plan to take protected industrial action.

“Disappointingly, union representatives walked out on the negotiations with TRC on July 14.

“Council has now met with the combined unions on 10 separate occasions as part of the Enterprise Bargaining negotiations.

“Council confirmed an updated formal offer to the unions in writing last Friday (9 July), which the unions agreed to take to their members this week.

“Council has continued to negotiate both professionally and in good faith with all parties relevant to the enterprise bargaining process and worked to facilitate positive outcomes.

“The new agreement needs to balance the best interests of the community council represents as well as our employees’ interests.

“We believe our current offer is fair, responsible and in the best interest of both the community and council employees.

“In our negotiations we’ve also spoken with the unions about how council intends to stay within its long-term financial sustainability parameters.

“As part of negotiations, council has offered to increase the employer superannuation contribution.

“The Queensland legislated employer contribution for local government is 12 per cent and Toowoomba Regional Council is one of the few local governments in Queensland which currently pays its employees above this rate and has done so for the past 12 years.

“In council’s most recent offer we proposed to increase that amount from 12.4 per cent to 12.5 per cent.

“TRC has not rejected an allowance for asbestos, but has sought additional information from the combined unions in regard to this allowance, which extends beyond the provisions of the relevant award.

“It’s disappointing that one of the nine unions has gone public and pre-empted the outcomes of the offer while it’s still being considered by union members.

“While we understand each union has its own priorities for the staff they represent, council has more than 1650 staff members and we must reach an outcome which provides the greatest benefit possible to the majority of council’s workforce.

“Council staff all receive above award remuneration, flexible and advantageous working conditions.

“The current offer extends these arrangements with a pay increase of approximately 8.5% over the four-year term of the proposed agreement, as well as improvements to identified allowances and conditions.

“On each occasion we’ve provided detailed minutes from the meetings, including all offers that have been given in writing, and these have been tabled and confirmed by the unions and council’s representatives.

“We believe we’ve been transparent throughout the negotiation process and put forward a fair, reasonable and affordable offer that takes into account the claims from each individual union, as well as the needs for the large number of employees who aren’t union members.”

Mr Pidgeon also confirmed the council had used industrial law specialists.