Union, City of Albany make peace

The long-running battle between the City of Albany and the Australian Services Union is officially over, with staff endorsing the new General Workers Enterprise Agreement last week.

Eligible City staff voted 117 to 16 in favour of the agreement.

The official endorsement ends the protracted negotiation process which took about two-and-a-half-years.

The union and the City executive team reached an in-principle agreement in February after a series of talks described as positive by both sides.

ASU WA secretary Wayne Wood said union members were pleased the agreement had finally been concluded.

However, the union remains concerned about the work environment at the City.

Recently the union claimed the culture at the City had deteriorated dramatically in the past 12 months and fear and harassment were routine.

Albany Mayor Dennis Wellington moved to allay the union’s concerns.

Mr Wellington said all City managers were committed to improving the reputation of the City and promoting a culture of celebration of the positive work performed by City of Albany employees.

“More than 20 City of Albany managers and senior leaders met on May 18 and May 24 to discuss proactive methods to promote the excellent work achieved on an ongoing basis by the City’s employees and ways to promote an effective, healthy working environment and improved staff morale,” he said.

“We as a team are committed to putting the City of Albany back on track to achieving an optimistic future for the citizens of Albany and we are working hard to ensure that this transpires.”

Albany City Council is now required to pass a motion allowing chief executive Faileen James to sign the agreement, after which it will be forwarded to Fair Work Australia to be registered.

keir.tunbridge@albanyadvertiser.com