What would you like in the 2017 Local Government State Award?

Yes, it’s time to think about a log of claims for the 2017 Award.

Everyone would have received a 2.8% pay increase from the first pay period after 1 July (much more than the inflationary rate) and it is the last pay increase under the 2014 Award. Ordinarily the next pay increase would be 1 July 2017 and, even though that seems a long way off, the unions are starting to get together their logs of claims. The three unions are meeting this week to discuss the best way of proceeding and when we should start. And you can be sure that the miserable and punitive HR flunkies will be gearing up as well to influence LGNSW to do a whole range of horrible things.

The USU has their log of claims already and this is our invitation to members to think about changes you might like to see in the next Award.

We’ve gone hard on issues like ensuring that councils do provide flexibility for work and family purposes, and in the process we’ve had to deal with some really difficult councils (like Bathurst, for example) but things seem to have settled down across the industry in the last 12 months or so.

For the 2014 Award we had a fairly long list of issues. Many of these claims were successful and agreed with the other unions and LGNSW - they included requiring more consultation and less brow-beating by management in the consultative committee; a greater commitment to flexible working arrangements for parents and more of an obligation to facilitate these arrangements; family reunion leave for employees adopted under a “closed” adoption practice; increased paid adoption leave; requiring councils to continue BPB CPD requirements, even if the employee is on paid or unpaid leave during the year; a discretion for councils to provide health and well-being leave from sick leave; and on and on.

For an Award that has been made by consent of the parties nine times, that was good progress.

The next meeting of the Committee of Management will be held on Friday 12 August and the Committee will consider all ideas flowing in from members to develop our log of claims.