Union, City in verbal stoush

Negotiations over City of Albany staff conditions are heating up, with the Australian Services Union and the City accusing each other of unreasonable behaviour at the start of formal bargaining.

Union representatives and the City’s lawyers met last week to discuss the union collective workplace agreement for general workers.

Both groups are now involved in a verbal slanging match over which is to blame for the failure to reach an agreement. ASU industrial co-ordinator Paul Berlinson said the City had moved further away from the union and was now disregarding conditions that had been agreed on in the past.

The union claims the only outstanding matters relate to leave for environmental health officers, Christmas and New Year leave, and the relationship between it and the City.

However, the City believes terms and conditions related to superannuation, business hours and lunchbreaks, compassionate leave and parental leave are still up for discussion. “(The City’s lawyers) were not there to negotiate,” Mr Berlinson said.

“They were there, in their terms, to make an announcement, and that announcement was to say that they intended to put another proposition on the table.

“The things that were previously agreed are no longer agreed because the City of Albany has now moved further away from us and it is just nonsense.”

He said although the increase in salary had already been agreed on, the City was now seeking a reduction of half a per cent for each year on what they believed was previously agreed.

If the matters can not be resolved, City staff members are expected to take protected industrial action.

City of Albany chief executive Faileen James said she was disappointed with the union’s conduct over the course of negotiations.

“It did not provide to me, early in the negotiations, information it held, and it was that information that partly caused the failure to reach agreement,” she said.

“The ASU seemed reluctant to embrace change and more intent on maintaining the status quo, rather than negotiating for reasonable benefits for staff such as paid parental leave.

“I would have thought the ASU would have made advocating for staff benefits such as paid parental leave its priority.”

Ms James would not reveal the cost to the city of employing the services of a “bargaining agent” to represent the council in discussions with the union, and said the information was commercial in confidence.

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