City of Ballarat staff vote for industrial action over wages

Australian Services Union deputy secretary Tash Wark said the council union members unanimously voted to support a number of actions at a meeting held on Thursday, May 2.

She said the industrial action would cover a range of services.

"We had a really well attended meeting from all sorts of different areas of council workers on Thursday, so what we expect is industrial action is going to be across a span different activities and work group," Ms Wark said.

"It could be anything from bans on litter, on mowing, on street cleaning, on picking up phone calls, on issuing invoices, on issuing infringement notices. There could be more visible actions like writing on side of trucks, vehicles and buildings."

The council employs over 1100 people across 80 different services.

Ms Wark said the members were "reluctant" to take this step, knowing its impact to residents.

"Our members don't make these decisions lightly," she said.

"They love their jobs, they love making Ballarat a great place to live but we need to see the council come back with something better."

Ms Wark said the members wanted their enterprise bargaining agreement to match a number of conditions but also a pay increase which they feel would match other councils in Victoria of similar size.

The Ballarat council management offered a revised agreement on Wednesday, May 1 after one was rejected in March.

The Ballarat council staff want a five per cent increase for their first year, backdated to September 2023 when their last EBA expired, and six per cent for the following two years in the agreement.

Ms Wark said the council saved $3.6 million due to job vacancies.

"Ballarat can well and truly afford this," she said.

"We know there is money sitting there in the budget that can be allocated to deliver a fairer and better pay rise for Ballarat city council workers that will go some way to dealing with the cost of living crisis everyone is experiencing."

ASU will now take the appropriate legislative requirements to give notice industrial action but it could be as soon as next week.

City of Ballarat council management have stated they hoped to reach a position that satisfies all parties in a timely manner.

In response to the claim council had saved $3.6 million due to job vacancies, a City of Ballarat spokesperson said this was a one-off amount.

"Throughout the year, it had temporarily vacant positions - that is the time between the departure date of staff leaving and the commencement date of the replacement beginning. These are not permanent savings," the spokesperson said.

"It would be financially irresponsible to fund an ongoing cost increase such as wage rises out of one-off savings from temporarily vacant positions."

The revised EBA council management put to staff included a 3.5 per cent pay increase, or $43 a week, whichever was higher for the first year, 3.5 per cent or $45 a week for the second year and 3.5 per cent or $47 a week, whichever was higher for year three.

"The increased pay offer in years two and three will require the City of Ballarat to identify ongoing savings in future years of approximately $2.5 million," the spokesperson said.

"The Australian Service Union's revised claim of eight per cent per annum for each of the three years of the agreement, 24 per cent over three years, would require council to identify approximately an additional $12.8 million in ongoing savings above what is required for the latest council offer. To put this in context a one percent rate rise generates $1.32 million in rate revenue."

The spokesperson said further discussions with relevant unions are scheduled.