The United Services Union met on Monday 19 October 2009 with Council Management and Council's Lawyers to discuss finalising the wage negotiations so the final awards and agreements can be drafted for members to vote on the negotiated changes and pay increases for the next 3 years. As of Wednesday 5 November 2009 the USU has still not received any
further communications from council or council's lawyers. The Union has
now contacted council and council's lawyers noting that finalisation of
the agreement is a high priority. Importantly, the Union needs to have
early access to the draft documentation so that the awards and
agreements can be thoroughly checked by USU Legal & Industrial to
ensure there is no disadvantage. Council has confirmed that backpay
will occur from 27 July 2009. Nevertheless, the Union does not want to
see the agreements finalised in a panic run up to the Christmas
shutdown period.
The USU put the following without prejudice proposal to Council on 19 October:
The USU wishes to obtain a consolidation of all industrial awards, EAs and unregistered agreement at the City for employees of the City and former employees of South Sydney and Leichhardt.
Unfortunately no agreement has been reached on consolidation.
The parties have reached agreement in-principle on new conditions and wage rises that will apply to all employees, such agreement contained in our letter of 24 August.
The parties wish to maintain the status quo as regards conditions for City of Sydney, former South Sydney and former Leichhardt employees while introducing the common wage increases and conditions contained in the letter of 24 August.
The Union is of the view that a single award could be made incorporating the provisions of the various City of Sydney, South Sydney (Wages and Salaried) and Leichhardt employees as "chapters" within such an agreement. The City does not agree with this proposal on the grounds that it would be administratively problematic.
The USU wants to minimise the capacity for any future administration to unilaterally withdraw from or rescind conditions or wage increases for the differing groups of employees covered by these agreements. It is noted that conditions contained in awards can only be withdrawn by order of the Commission whereas conditions in EAs can be withdrawn unilaterally at the conclusion of the agreement provided that three months notice is provided.
The following proposal was put to the City to move things forward in a practical way:
Each of the City of Sydney and South Sydney awards are rolled over, largely in their current terms provided that those clauses specifically dealt with in the correspondence of 24 August are varied accordingly.
The Sydney City EA is split into two sections, the first section incorporating the common wage increases and common conditions contained in the correspondence of 24 August, the second dealing with the preserved City of Sydney only conditions.
The parties continue working together during the life of the new awards/EAs to consolidate these conditions.
The Union calls on the City to give consideration to this proposal. The Union is always happy to meet with the City to resolve this issue so the wages increases and conditions can proceed for endorsement by our membership and council.
