Toowoomba Regional Council - Time to change your wages

The Services Union is by your side regardless of how long it takes to negotiate your new Certified Agreement (CA) at Toowoomba Regional Council. Our Union met with the Council again last Friday for further discussions where the delay tactics continued, and the goalposts were moved.

The Council’s advice to us on how it calculates the costings for claims seems to change from one meeting to the next and it has changed its position on some of its own claims designed to retain employees with critical skills. The Council has also advised that its claims have come out of the “bucket of money” it has allocated for this negotiation, meaning you get less.

Our Union along with the other Unions tabled the following wages package:

• Year One - 8%
• Year Two - 6%
• Year Three - 5%

We tabled a new claim last week, a clause to provide protections and consultation around the introduction and use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the workplace. AI is rapidly evolving and should not come at the risk of local jobs in Toowoomba.

We also tabled a specific claim for members supervising tradespeople in the critical skills areas.

Judging by the newspaper article in the Chronicle on the weekend, it would appear the team at the top of Council aren’t united, we can say our team in the workplace is united and growing in numbers each day. You have told us and the Council that you are dissatisfied with your wages, conditions, and poor culture. It’s time for them to act rather than provide lip service. 

Your current agreement expires on 19 June, less than three weeks away. We will advise of several meetings very soon to enable members to make decisions on your next steps.

Remember, you are currently the lowest paid Council employees in your category and If you want to change that, share this communique and speak with your colleagues who haven’t yet joined our Union. Ask them to come down off the fence and join you here.  

Please direct questions to your workplace delegates: Julie-Anne Crosby, Naomi Scott, Robert Relvas, Ian Burrows and Adam Purves.