CEO gets councillors' support

City of Albany councillors have thrown their support behind chief executive Faileen James’ position during negotiations with the Australian Services Union over staff conditions.

The move was immediately met with scathing criticism from the union, who accused Ms James of misleading council.

The City and the union have been unsuccessfully negotiating over the general workers union collective workplace agreement for the past 18 months.

Formal bargaining recommenced earlier this month, with each party accusing the other of unreasonable demands.

At its meeting on Tuesday, the council voted to endorse continued negotiations with conditions Ms James described as more “appropriate for the current economic conditions”. It also endorsed a wage increase of 2.8 per cent for affected staff.

Councillors Mervyn Leavesley and David Bostock spoke against the motion, arguing it was in the realms of operation and not a decision council should be making.

However, councillors Dennis Wellington and Ray Hammond said the motion was simply logical.

ASU industrial co-ordinator Paul Berlinson agreed with Mr Leavesley and Mr Bostock and accused Ms James of “blatantly misleading the council”.

“To be quite frank we are shocked and appalled at the decision taken by the council because it’s entirely inconsistent with the approach they have demonstrated previously,” he said.

“It is not their role to be seeking to hinder the negotiations by locking in a preconceived position, which requires an outcome providing lesser conditions than those council and the chief executive agreed to less than 12 months ago.”

Mr Berlinson said the union was not sure of what Ms James meant when she referred to a 2.8 per cent wage increase.

The City and the union have been unable to agree on a number of conditions in the agreement, including those relating to unpaid overtime, parental leave and leave for environmental health officers.

The General Workers 2007 Agreement, which expired on June 30, 2010, will remain in place until an agreement can be reached.

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