Australian Services Union flags Geelong council action with Fair Work Commission

A union representing employees in their enterprise agreement negotiations has hit out at City Hall’s “substandard and insulting” offer that it says falls short of what comparative councils are proposing.

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

City Hall staff are edging ever closer to taking industrial action as they fight for the same pay rise put to their counterparts, labelling the current offer as “substandard and insulting”.

The Australian Services Union (ASU) will this week apply to the Fair Work Commission (FWC) for the right for 500 City of Greater Geelong employees to take action over what it said was “council’s refusal to negotiate in good faith about wages and conditions beyond a few limited issues”.

Possible action could see public garbage bins left uncollected during the busy summer period, short strikes, bans from working in the office, and writing on work vehicles, as police have done during their standoff with the state government.

Negotiations between the parties over a new three-year enterprise agreement have been ongoing for months.

While agreement has been reached on some issues, including additional sick leave in some circumstances and a commitment to addressing occupational violence, they remain at loggerheads over a proposed 3 per cent annual wage increase and lump sum payments totalling $1900.

The ASU promotes itself as the largest local government union in the country, representing workers in a variety of fields that include garbage collectors, child carers, librarians and gardeners, as well as administrative and clerical staff.

A spokesman said Ballarat and Wyndham councils were offering annual wage increases of 3.5 per cent, while the lump sum payments short-changed workers in the long term.

“We would rather see this money invested in increases to the base wage,” he said.

“The offer is less than inflation and below what equivalent councils are offering their workers.”

The spokesman said the union was recommending workers oppose the agreement that will be put to them December 4.

“The ASU is recommending that workers reject a substandard and insulting offer from management and force them come back and negotiate a fairer deal,” he said.

For any industrial action to occur, the FWC must first approve the ASU application and then for it to be supported by a majority of affected employees.

“We will also make an order directing all bargaining representatives to attend a compulsory conciliation conference during the ballot period,” the FWC website states.

Council’s executive director of corporate services Troy Edwards pointed to a statement he made a month ago, in which he described negotiations as “productive and positive”.

“Our proposal is fair and sustainable, and has been shaped by our employees’ feedback,” he said.

Originally published as Australian Services Union flags Geelong council action with Fair Work Commission